Nigeria’s opposition parties have given themselves four weeks to develop a framework for presenting a common presidential candidate against the ruling Allen Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 election.
The decision was reached on Monday at the first Opposition Political Parties Summit convened by the G-100 political pressure group at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.
Representatives of six opposition parties — the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) — participated in the summit.
However, two of the leading opposition presidential contenders, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, were absent from the meeting.
Rather than immediately asking any presidential candidate to withdraw from the race, the summit agreed to create a negotiation structure through which the competing ambitions of the parties and candidates could be addressed.
G-100 convener, Salihu Lukman, said the immediate priority was to establish rules for the negotiation before determining who would eventually emerge as the opposition’s candidate.
“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,” Lukman said.
He added, “What has been missing is not analysis. It is a table.”
Five groups given four weeks
Under the framework adopted at the summit, the opposition parties will establish three standing organs — a Central Leadership Committee, a Publicity and Communication Committee and a Legal Committee.
The Central Leadership Committee will provide political direction and coordination, while the Publicity and Communication Committee will handle joint messaging and media engagements.
The Legal Committee will advise on constitutional and legal issues arising from the negotiations and prepare relevant agreements.
The parties will also constitute five working groups to develop proposals on a National Covenant for Democratic Renewal, a Single-Term Transition Charter, a National Reform Programme, a Framework for Opposition Unity and a Roadmap to a Common Presidential Candidate.
Each participating party is expected to nominate a representative to the five groups.
The groups have four weeks to complete their assignments, after which the parties will reconvene at a second summit to consider their recommendations.
Atiku, Obi stay away
The absence of Atiku and Obi underscored one of the biggest hurdles facing the proposed alliance: persuading presidential contenders who have already secured their party tickets to accept a process that could ultimately require one of them to step aside.
A source familiar with the negotiations said Atiku may be weighing the timing of the G-100 initiative, particularly because it emerged after several parties had already selected their presidential candidates.
“The argument is, who will be willing to step down at this point in time? These are what I think Atiku is looking at at the moment, but I am not speaking for him,” the source said.
The source also linked Obi’s absence to ongoing political calculations surrounding the reported alliance between the former Anambra State governor and former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
However, Atiku’s media aide, Phrank Shaibu, dismissed suggestions that the former vice president’s absence amounted to a rejection of the initiative.
“His Excellency’s absence was unavoidable and should not be mischievously interpreted as a boycott or lack of commitment to opposition unity,” Shaibu said.»
According to him, Atiku remained committed to building “a broad, disciplined and united opposition” capable of defeating the APC in 2027.
House of Representatives Minority Caucus spokesman, Afam Ogene, also said the absence of the leading candidates should not be overinterpreted.
“It’s just the laying of structures, so the party chairmen and officials largely handled that,” he stated.
Despite being among the opposition presidential contenders, PRP candidate Donald Duke pledged to support whoever emerges from the negotiation process.
The former Cross River State governor said his support would not depend on whether he personally secured the eventual ticket.
“We will support any political party that emerges in 2027. Whatever decision is arrived at today, I will not walk away but will strive all along because that’s what the people want to see,” Duke said.
His position reflects the central sacrifice the G-100 says will be required if the opposition is to avoid another fragmented presidential contest.
Lukman acknowledged that the process would inevitably produce winners and disappointed contenders.
“There is no version of this that costs nobody anything. Someone in this hall will have to accept an outcome he/she did not want. That is what unity is. It is not a communiqué. It is somebody’s disappointment, borne well,” he said.
2023 vote split drives fresh push
The push for a common candidate is largely driven by the opposition’s experience in the 2023 presidential election, when Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso and other candidates divided the anti-APC vote.
Lukman argued that the opposition collectively secured about 13 million votes in 2023 but failed to translate the combined support into victory because the votes were spread across different candidates.
“Nobody stole 13m votes. We divided them ourselves, in public, and we did it knowing exactly what the consequence would be,” he said.
He urged the parties to learn from the negotiations that preceded the 2015 election, when opposition parties eventually formed the APC and defeated the then-ruling PDP.
According to Lukman, the success of the 2015 alliance was based less on personal relationships than on an agreed process.
“What they had was not affection. What they had was sequence. They agreed on the rules before they knew the outcome,” he said.
G-100 proposes four-year transition
The summit also introduced a proposed four-year transition arrangement as part of its broader reform agenda.
The proposal is contained in the Single-Term Transition Charter, which is expected to be developed by one of the five working groups under the proposed “Government of National Competence” and four-year National Reset Programme.
The communiqué, however, did not provide details on how the proposed transition would operate or whether constitutional amendments would be required.
The opposition grouping also called for greater transparency and accountability at the highest levels of government.
It urged the United States Government to process and lawfully disclose non-exempt official records concerning President Bola Tinubu that are considered to be of legitimate public interest, subject to applicable law and ongoing judicial proceedings in the US.
The group stressed that the demand did not presume the contents of any undisclosed records or constitute a finding of wrongdoing.
Lukman said the ultimate objective was to give Nigerians a credible alternative at the next election.
“Our only interest is the one stated in the Doctrine we published in August, which is that a democracy is sustained not merely by holding elections, but by the credible possibility of an alternative government.
“Today, that possibility is in this room. It is in nobody else’s hands,” he declared.
