Prior to the 2027 presidential election, major political parties and pressure groups criticized former vice president Atiku Abubakar‘s claim that no candidate from the south could defeat President Bola Tinubu in the upcoming general election, causing fresh rifts within Nigeria’s opposition bloc.
The parties, including the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Labour Party, Young Progressives Party, Social Democratic Party, New Nigeria People’s Party, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, as well as both the Kwankwasiyya and Obidient Movements, disagreed with the former vice president over his stand.
In separate exclusive interviews, they insisted that the presidency should remain in the South in the interest of fairness, national cohesion, and political stability.
The disagreement followed a statement issued on Sunday by Atiku’s media aide, Olusola Sanni, warning opposition parties against zoning their presidential tickets to the South.
The former vice president’s camp argued that while the ruling All Progressives Congress may retain its southern presidential configuration around Tinubu, it would be politically unwise for the opposition to adopt the same approach.
“The first and most obvious question is this: how does a Southern opposition candidate realistically unseat a sitting Southern president? Nigerian political history offers no precedent for such an outcome.
“No incumbent president has ever been defeated by an opposition challenger from the same geopolitical bloc. To insist otherwise is to enter the contest already defeated.” The statement had read.
The Atiku camp also argued that by 2027, the South would have spent more years in power than the North since the return of democracy in 1999.
“By 2027, the South would have held presidential power for approximately 18 years in the Fourth Republic, compared to about 10 years for the North. If the South retains power for another four years, that disparity widens even further.
“It therefore becomes difficult to understand the justice in an argument that seeks to deepen an already existing imbalance under the guise of equity,” Sanni stated.
But reacting in separate interviews with The PUNCH, opposition parties dismissed the argument as politically narrow, divisive, and inconsistent with the country’s power-sharing understanding.
The National Publicity Secretary of APGA, Ejimofor Opara, said the South should be allowed to complete its turn in office, insisting that Tinubu remained defeatable despite Atiku’s calculations.
“It is the turn of the South, and we strongly believe that every right-thinking northerner should support it. We must bear in mind that four years are far better than eight years. Any other southerner promising a four-year single tenure is a fraudster,” he said.
According to Opara, “The so-called coalition has been returned to default mode. What is certain is that Tinubu’s votes would increase significantly, and he will not lose Lagos this time.”
He further argued that the growing disagreement within the opposition coalition had exposed cracks in the alliance long before the 2027 election cycle gathered full momentum.
“The moment people begin to put personal ambition ahead of collective interest, the coalition naturally weakens. Nigerians are watching what is happening closely. What the opposition should focus on is presenting a clear alternative and not endless debates over who comes from where,” he added.
On its part, the YPP said there was nothing sacrosanct about Tinubu’s re-election, stressing that competence and leadership capacity should outweigh regional sentiment.
