Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has issued a stark warning to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), declaring that the 2027 general elections will not be a contest between parties but “a battle between the suffering masses and their tormentors.”
In a statement sent to THE WHISTLER on Saturday, Dalung drew unsettling parallels between the current economic crisis under President Bola Tinubu and the final days of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, describing it as history “repeating itself with frightening accuracy.”
Dalung remarked, “No president in Nigeria’s history received more elite endorsements than Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 governors, senators, traditional rulers, billionaire businessmen. But it was all a bubble. The people spoke, and they threw him out. That same moment is approaching again.”
He attributed Jonathan’s loss in 2015 not to a lack of campaign effort but to “the arrogance of power and a willful neglect of the people’s suffering.” Despite heavy spending and strategic campaign delays, he argued, the outcome was ultimately shaped by public frustration over insecurity and poor governance.
“The North was mobilized and determined to vote Jonathan out, regardless of the odds. Nigeria is at that crossroads once again,” Dalung said.
He criticized the Tinubu administration for ignoring widespread economic hardship, surging inflation, and insecurity, warning that the presidency appears “deaf to the cries of the masses.”
“This is not about APC versus PDP or any other political party,” Dalung stressed. “2027 will be the people versus the system that has impoverished and abandoned them.”
Referencing the controversial $2.1 billion arms fund scandal from the Jonathan era—allegedly diverted to finance reelection efforts Dalung cautioned against repeating history.
“The ghosts of Dasuki and the arms fund still haunt Nigeria,” he said. “We must not auction our democracy again for dollars and patronage.”
While Jonathan has denied involvement in the arms fund misuse, Dalung mocked the growing wave of endorsements for Tinubu’s potential second term, likening them to the “charade” that preceded Jonathan’s 2015 defeat.
“Endorsements don’t win elections. Trust does—and right now, Nigerians are disillusioned,” he said.
Quoting former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s infamous remark, “Postponing the funeral doesn’t wake the dead; you’re only delaying the burial,” Dalung concluded that while Tinubu’s administration remains in office, it is “politically dead in the hearts of Nigerians.”
