2027: Opposition parties unveil four-year single-term plan to challenge Tinubu

ABUJA — Nigeria’s six major opposition parties have begun laying the groundwork for a united challenge to President Bola Tinubu in 2027, proposing a Government of National Competence anchored on a single four-year transition term.

The proposal was unveiled at a G-100 opposition summit in Abuja, attended by several presidential and vice-presidential candidates and senior party officials.

Although the leading opposition presidential hopefuls — ADC’s Atiku Abubakar, NDC’s Peter Obi and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde — were absent, representatives of the six parties participated in the discussions.

Among those present were SDP presidential candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo, PRP presidential candidate Donald Duke and APM vice-presidential candidate Lawal Musa Daura, alongside members of the parties’ National Working Committees and Boards of Trustees.

The Presidency could not be reached for its reaction to the development.

G-100 demands enforceable agreement

Presenting the opening address, G-100 representative Mallam Salihu Lukman said the opposition needed more than an electoral alliance built around individual ambitions.

He proposed a Government of National Competence founded on competence, integrity, inclusion and equitable representation.

“The framework before you proposes something more demanding than a merger of ambitions: a Government of National Competence, built on competence, integrity, national inclusion, and fair representation of every party that contributes to the effort,” he said.

Lukman said the proposed arrangement should be backed by “a political commitment to a single four-year term, written into an enforceable transition charter.”

He repeatedly stressed the need for the agreement to have legal and political consequences.

“We want to underline the word ‘enforceable,’” he said.

According to him, Nigeria’s opposition has suffered not from a shortage of promises but from the inability to hold politicians to those promises when circumstances change.

“This gathering does not need more sincerity. Nigerian politics has never suffered from a shortage of sincere promises. What it has suffered from is promises that nobody could enforce when the person who made them changed his/her mind,” he said.

Lukman insisted that any agreement reached must be “written, witnessed, and have consequences.”

‘We divided 13 million votes ourselves’

The G-100 official said the 2023 presidential election should serve as a warning to opposition parties.

He noted that opposition parties contested separately in 2003, 2007 and 2011 but succeeded in defeating the ruling party in 2015 after agreeing on rules of engagement.

According to him, the failure to repeat that level of cooperation in 2023 allowed opposition votes to be divided.

“The winner took just under nine million votes. One opposition candidate took close to seven million. Another took just over six million. Thirteen million votes on one side of the argument, under nine million on the other.

“The side with fewer votes formed the government, lawfully, constitutionally and entirely predictably,” he said.

Lukman described the result as a consequence of opposition fragmentation rather than conspiracy.

“Nobody stole thirteen million votes. We divided them ourselves in public, and we did it knowing exactly what the consequence would be,” he said.

He cited Kenya’s 2002 election and Malaysia’s 2018 political transition as examples of opposition forces defeating long-established ruling parties through unity.

“In neither case did the opposition win because it had become more virtuous. It won because it had become one,” he said.

He described the lesson as “arithmetical,” not moral.

Coalition structure unveiled

The proposed coalition arrangement will have three major committees.

A Central Leadership Committee will comprise national chairmen, national secretaries and presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the participating parties.

A Publicity and Communication Committee will coordinate the coalition’s messaging, while a Legal Committee will oversee legal strategy and provide advice on coalition-related issues.

The G-100 will remain outside the political decision-making structure, functioning only as facilitator and observer.

Five additional working groups are expected to submit reports within four weeks on:

• National Covenant for Democratic Renewal;
• Single-Term Transition Charter;
• National Reform Programme;
• Framework for Opposition Unity; and
• Roadmap to a Common Presidential Candidate.

The reports will be submitted to a second summit for adoption.

Lukman said the summit was not designed to force parties to merge or candidates to withdraw.

“It is not asking any party to dissolve. It is not asking any party to disappear into another party. It is not asking any candidate to stand down this morning. That question is not on the agenda of this summit, and any report that says otherwise will be wrong,” he said.

He said the immediate objective was to create the framework for negotiations before determining who would occupy particular political positions.

House Minority Leader seeks 2015-style alliance

House of Representatives Minority Leader Fred Agbedi urged the opposition to reproduce the strategy that enabled the APC to defeat the PDP in 2015.

He said the Minority Caucus had chosen to work with the G-100 to help opposition parties reconcile their ambitions and pursue a common electoral objective.

“In the spirit of creating a viable opposition and ensuring that we win collectively the 2027 election, the Minority Caucus of the House of Reps decided that we partner with the G-100 to see how opposition parties can come together, streamline our ambitions, and ensure that we take this government out,” Agbedi said.

He warned against repeating the fragmentation of 2023.

“What will it benefit us when we are divided and scattered, and we go into an election, and we come back to collate the millions of votes we had divided amongst ourselves that could not give us victory? It will be like an exercise in futility, and we pray that we shouldn’t in 2027 go back to that,” he said.

Donald Duke ready to step aside

PRP presidential candidate Donald Duke said he was willing to sacrifice his own ambition if the opposition parties eventually agreed on another candidate.

Duke said political ego had repeatedly prevented opposition forces from working together.

He urged politicians to put personal interests aside, warning that attempting to win the election independently would end in failure.

“if we think we can go it all alone, then we will fail,” he said.

Parties warn against internal attacks

ADC National Vice Chairman for the South-South, Usani Uguru Usani, said the coalition had a better basis for judging the political environment than it did in 2023 because current assessments were increasingly based on performance.

He nevertheless warned opposition parties against fighting among themselves.

“There is something that is happening among the opposition people or party. We seem to be attacking ourselves much more than we attack a common enemy, which is not correct,” he said.

APM National Chairman Yusuf Mamman Dantalle called the summit historic and urged politicians to place Nigeria’s interests above individual and party calculations.

“For us to achieve this will be remembered for what we do today, that we have the opportunity, or what we refuse to do today, that we have the opportunity,” he said.

Representing the Tanimu Turaki-led PDP faction, BoT Secretary Dr Babangida Aliyu said the initiative addressed a longstanding weakness in Nigeria’s political process.

He advocated taking the coalition discussions down to state and local government levels.

“We are not here to pick or nominate or tell other parties not to run. Now we are going to lay the foundation that when the time comes, we should be able to say this is the way to go,” he said.

PRP National Chairman Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said Nigerians were closely watching the opposition and described litigation affecting the six parties as “an existential threat.”

He nevertheless vowed that the opposition would continue with the project.

“Our back is against the wall but we’ll fight back. In 2027, we will together remove this government and put the Nigerian nation on a different trajectory,” he said.

SDP, NDC endorse coalition

SDP National Chairman Prof Sadiq Gombe said Nigerian voters had shown repeatedly that they could vote for good governance.

He cited the 2023 presidential election, saying the three leading opposition candidates together obtained about two-thirds of the votes cast.

Gombe also pointed to the Osun State election, where he said the ruling party’s deployment of security and financial resources failed to determine the eventual outcome.

He pledged the SDP’s support for the coalition “irrespective of whatever” and urged participating parties to respect previous unity agreements.

NDC National Chairman Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe also expressed support for the initiative on behalf of his party and Peter Obi.

He described the coalition effort as necessary at a time when the country was “in a comatose” state.

“It is a good thing when opposition political parties that are not pretending, but convinced that our country is comatose… think through and establish a pathway to rescue this nation,” he said.

Six parties adopt communiqué

The summit ended with the six parties adopting a communiqué committing them to a structured negotiation process for opposition cooperation ahead of 2027.

They formally established the Central Leadership Committee, Publicity and Communication Committee and Legal Committee.

The five working groups were also approved to prepare the National Covenant for Democratic Renewal, Single-Term Transition Charter, National Reform Programme, Framework for Opposition Unity and Roadmap to a Common Presidential Candidate within four weeks.

The documents will be considered at a second summit, with its date and venue to be determined by the Central Leadership Committee.

The parties also called on the United States government to ensure the timely and lawful disclosure of all non-exempt official records concerning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that relate to legitimate public interest.

They said the position would be communicated to the ECOWAS Commission.

The communiqué reaffirmed that the G-100 would operate only as facilitator and observer and would not replace the political parties as the decision-making authority.

Atiku says absence was unavoidable

Atiku Abubakar later rejected suggestions that he deliberately stayed away from the summit.

His Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the former vice president’s absence was unavoidable and did not indicate a lack of support for the coalition.

“No. Not at all. His Excellency Atiku Abubakar’s absence was unavoidable and should not be misconstrued as a boycott.

“He fully supports the objective of the G100 and remains committed to building a united, credible opposition capable of defeating the APC in 2027,” Shaibu said.

Osun sends warning ahead of 2027

The recent political experience in Osun State also reinforces the importance of grassroots support ahead of the 2027 election.

Despite federal backing and the involvement of prominent political figures, Governor Ademola Adeleke emerged victorious, showing that national political influence does not necessarily guarantee electoral success at the grassroots.

The outcome indicates that voters can make independent choices based on government performance, local concerns and the level of trust they place in candidates.

For the opposition, therefore, the challenge is now to turn the proposed coalition from an agreement among political elites into a credible and disciplined structure capable of delivering a common electoral strategy in 2027.

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