As the G100 coalition weighs five political parties for a common presidential ticket against President Bola Tinubu in 2027, the Atiku and Obi camps are locked in a contest that threatens to complicate opposition unity.
Checks by The Guardian revealed that the group had adopted an incremental strategy in its task of selecting a single opposition candidate, following the insistence of some presidential aspirants that they should be allowed to test their popularity among voters.
An influential member of the enlarged body, which has Salihu Lukman as its convener, told The Guardian that the presidential candidates of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Governor Seyi Makinde, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, consider themselves better alternatives to President Tinubu.
The source disclosed that both Makinde and Adebayo believe that any calculation that excludes them from the presidential ballot would ultimately benefit Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) by handing them the bloc votes of the South-West.
“Some of us believe that the best way to overcome the roadblock posed by the presidential candidates to the emergence of a single opposition candidate is to prune the number down to at least five. You have heard former Cross River governor, Donald Duke, express frustration over the egotistical tendencies of the presidential candidates, which may hand Tinubu a second term.
“We are not relenting; we want to watch the five parties and their candidates sustain their campaigns. When it is between 45 and 30 days to the election, the picture would begin to emerge of how Nigerians see the candidates and who they are most likely to vote for,” he stated.
Makinde had urged the APC standard-bearer to consider withdrawing from the presidential race and taking a deserved rest. He also argued that Tinubu’s inability to groom a successor makes it imperative for the South-West to produce a credible candidate for the election.
For his part, the SDP presidential standard-bearer, Adebayo, said Nigerians’ right to elect their president should not be abridged. While maintaining that Tinubu did not deserve a second term in office, he argued that any political alliance that failed to offer Nigerians a better quality of life would amount to replacing one evil with another.
He told The Guardian that opposition leaders should first look inwards, saying: “Politics is a game where condemnation is easy. It’s easy to criticise Tinubu, criticise other people. You can see how many people that have made comments about Tinubu because of freedom of speech. But what will take you far in politics is not how you focus on others. Focus on yourself and say, am I an honest political dealer? Am I an honest player?”
He maintained that the search for Nigeria’s next leader must involve not only politicians but also citizens. He added that the election offered the country a valuable
for introspection and for citizens to make the right choices by asking relevant questions.
“For example, have I even shown interest in the affairs of my country to the point where I can dictate where the country goes? Or I just watch news and make comedy and forget about it? And if I join, am I in the right party for the right reasons? Have I joined a political party for the right reason?
“Do I support the right candidate for the right reason? Do I do political activities in order to make personal gain? If you’re one of those who sell your vote, are you not worse than an armed robber?” Adebayo remarked.
“Are you not worse than the person? If the only thing Nigeria gave you, the right to vote, you sold it. Are you fit to be a governor? If you’re a governor, would you sell the state?
“If you work in INEC, are you working there because you love democracy? Or is it an
for you to collect a bribe and do mischief?”
Meanwhile, addressing a town hall meeting in Calabar, Cross River State, the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, declared that the Atiku-Amaechi ticket was the strongest option for victory within the opposition coalition.
Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation and Rivers State governor, argued that, in terms of geographical spread and electoral arithmetic, the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had the clearest pathway to victory in the January 16, 2027 presidential election.
While Amaechi argued that the G100 should urge other parties to rally behind the ADC, the convener of the Big Tent Coalition, Prof Pat Utomi, maintained that he would not support any consensus arrangement that did not revolve around the Peter Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso pairing under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Guardian news
