The camps of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, have rejected the push by a political pressure group, G-100, for opposition parties to field a single presidential candidate against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that while both camps recognise the need for greater cooperation among opposition parties, neither appears prepared to surrender its presidential ambition as the proposed opposition coalition takes shape.
The development could complicate the efforts of G-100, a group convened by former Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman, which has been advocating a united opposition front as the most realistic strategy for defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress.
However, the positions emerging from the camps of Atiku and Obi suggest that reaching an agreement on a single presidential candidate may prove more difficult than mobilising the opposition parties around a common agenda.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH on Saturday, Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the former vice president had moved beyond discussions about merely convening an opposition summit.
He noted that the ultimate decision would be left to Nigerians based on the policy alternatives presented by the presidential candidates.
“We have moved beyond this conversation. Atiku has brought to the table the policy alternatives, including what he would do with petroleum subsidy if elected. His policies are about the people and they are not hidden. Come January 2027, Nigerians will make their choice. This is where we are today,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to assess the presidential candidates on the basis of their policy proposals when the time comes, insisting that Atiku remained the most prepared opposition politician to take over the affairs of the country.
Obi’s camp also believes the former Anambra governor has the credentials and political support required to challenge Tinubu.
The former Anambra State governor, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, has since joined the NDC as the opposition realignment ahead of 2027 gathers momentum.
While the NDC has welcomed the G-100 initiative, it rejected the suggestion that the opposition must necessarily present a single candidate to defeat the APC.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, said the group deserved commendation for seeking to unite the opposition, but argued that the country’s electoral history demonstrated that an incumbent could be defeated without all opposition parties merging behind one presidential candidate.
“Under a multi-party democracy, it is possible for one of the parties to defeat a sitting president. It happened in 2015 and it was only fragments of the All Progressive Grand Alliance and the Peoples Democratic Party that teamed up to form an alliance with the All Progressives Congress and they were able to defeat President Goodluck Jonathan.
“So, the NDC is not going into the 2027 election with that self-defeatist approach that the opposition cannot defeat the APC unless all the parties come together,” Director said.
