From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
As Nigeria is preparing for the 2027 general election, Segun Showunmi, the Convener of The Alternative Movement, has called on the politicians, especially the contestants to refrain from utterances and actions capable of plunging the country into chaos.
Showunmi, who made this call in a personal statement titled “My Scar From MKO Abiola, My Sacrifice For Democracy, and My Unwavering Pan-Nigerian Conviction” and made available to journalists in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Wednesday, said politicians should rather focus issue-based campaigns and eschew from remarks that could cause mayhem and throw Nigeria into crisis.
He noted that as the 2027 general election is drawing nearer, political actors should continue to be guided by the supreme sacrifice made by the assumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential poll, late M.K.O Abiola, which according to him served as a harbinger of the current democratic rule being enjoyed in the country.
“Abiola’s supreme sacrifice should continue to guide Nigeria towards a more stable, just and enduring democracy whose promise must never be betrayed”, Showunmi stated .
He explained that he invoked the events of 1993 to illustrate how political situations can spiral out of control when caution, restraint and respect for the law are abandoned, adding that students of history understand the point he was making and he stands by that argument as a warning about consequences, not an invitation to recklessness.
According to him, Abiola’s death and the struggle for the actualisation of the June 12 mandate left an indelible mark on his personal life, and he will neither make light of Abiola’s grave sacrifice nor allow anyone to distort his words.
The chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the scar in his heart from the loss of Abiola has not fully healed, insisting he has nothing to prove about his sacrifices for Nigeria’s democracy
Showunmi said none of the contestants, particularly those threatening to release unverified election results in circumstances that could plunge the country into chaos, should be encouraged to take any action that could bring them into conflict with the law or endanger national stability.
He, however, declared himself a “Pan-Nigerian through and through”, with no interest in promoting ethnic superiority, and cautioned those who describe themselves as Yoruba activists to understand his words within the framework of commitment to the Nigerian nation, which he will not subordinate to sectional advantage or exclusion politics.
He restated his long-held view that Nigeria should manage political power through a pendulum arrangement between North and South, arguing that “a predictable and mutually respected understanding of power rotation offers a framework for reducing suspicion, strengthening cohesion and sustaining democracy”.
Showunmi disclosed that he will one day speak more fully about his own contributions to the democratic struggle and how critical events surrounding Abiola shaped his thinking and redirected his political journey, while acknowledging media entrepreneur Dele Momodu for playing a key and pivotal role in that chapter of history.
He concluded that nobody should mistake his restraint for ignorance of history or his commitment to national unity for absence of personal conviction, noting that those who have benefited most from Abiola’s sacrifices cannot dismiss his experience, and reaffirmed his loyalty to the democratic ideal and unshaken conviction that Nigeria must survive, mature and prosper.
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