Despite being unable to form a strong coalition and present one presidential candidate who can wrestle power from the All Progressives Congress in 2027 presidential election, the two main opposition parties – African Democratic Congress and Nigeria Democratic Congress – have continued to fight each other, brightening the chances of the ruling APC, Ejiofor Alike reports
With the 2026 general election fast approaching, the main opposition political parties have continued to demonstrate a lack of capacity to unite and present one presidential candidate to defeat the incumbent in 2027.
In African democracy, defeating a sitting president is not a feat that can be achieved by fragmented and fractured opposition parties.
For the All Progressives Congress (APC) to defeat former President Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, the leaders of the opposition parties and their presidential candidates jettisoned their political ambitions, and collapsed their structures into one umbrella, the APC.
However, due to selfish ambitions, the current presidential candidates are unwilling to sacrifice their ambitions for a common cause.
Despite not forming the kind of coalition that birthed the APC, the current opposition parties dissipate energy fighting themselves instead of uniting against the APC.
The repeated claims that opposition parties have made significant progress towards producing a consensus presidential candidate to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the APC in 2027, have remained a mirage.
Evidence on ground suggests increasing hostility among the opposition parties against themselves.
Analysts believe that the lack of unity among the opposition parties has brightened APC’s chances of victory in the 2027 presidential election.
According to political analysts, the same minority votes of about 36 per cent that gave the ruling APC victory in 2023 presidential election will likely hand over victory to the ruling party in 2027.
In 2023, the opposition parties split the majority votes of about 64 per cent among themselves, depriving one another the number of votes that could have enabled the opposition to unseat the APC.
Elementary mathematics shows that if the opposition parties had merged to form one political party, and scored about 64 per cent votes shared by all the opposition parties in the 2023 presidential election, the ruling APC would have been defeated resoundingly.
The 2023 scenario is playing out ahead of 2027 as the presidential candidates of the opposition parties have not shown any genuine sincerity to step down from the race and support one candidate.
Instead of uniting to unseat APC, the opposition parties are fighting themselves so that when the APC emerges victorious, they will allege rigging and resort to frivolous litigation.
Recently, the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) accused the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Musa Kwankwaso of undermining the opposition to brighten President Tinubu’s re-election chances in 2027.
In a statement, the Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC-PCC, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, accused Kwankwaso of attacking opposition leaders instead of criticising the Tinubu-led APC government.
Kwankwaso’s ‘offence’ was his call for the ADC’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to step down for the NDC presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, ahead of the 2027 election.
The former Kano State governor had at least on two occasions urged Atiku to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race, citing his age and health.
Atiku, who will turn 81 next year, has contested the presidency multiple times and has appeared on the ballot as a presidential candidate in 2007, 2019 and 2023. In April, he said the 2027 election would be his final attempt to become president.
Kwankwaso made the first appeal last month during a meeting with members of the Fulani Farmers Association at his residence in Abuja.
He asked the group to approach Atiku and encourage him to focus on his traditional title rather than pursue another presidential bid.
“Go to the Wazirin of Adamawa’s house and tell him in Fulani that he needs to focus on his traditional title of Wazirin, given his age and health,” Kwankwaso said in Hausa.
Kwankwaso stressed that his call was not motivated by hostility towards Atiku, whom he said he had known and worked with for many years.
But Ologbondiyan described Kwankwaso’s call for Atiku to step down for Obi as reckless and self-serving, claiming that it was an attempt to divide the opposition for the APC’s benefit.
The ADC-PCC also challenged Kwankwaso to explain why his political criticisms appeared more frequently directed at Atiku and the ADC than at the ruling party
He further accused the NDC vice presidential candidate of using attacks on the ADC to curry favour with the ruling party.
However, many political analysts believe Kwankwaso’s call for the opposition parties to present one candidate is the right step if the opposition parties really want to unseat Tinubu in 2027.
Contrary to Ologbondiyan’s claim that Kwankwaso’s position was an attempt to divide the opposition for the APC’s benefit, many believe that it was ADC-PCC spokesman’s position that amounted to encouraging division and divided votes in favour of APC.
Instead of attacking Kwankwaso for calling for Atiku’s withdrawal from the presidential race, the PCC-ADC spokesman should have also insisted that the principal of the former Kano State governor should step down for the former vice president because it is only when the opposition parties unite behind one presidential candidate that they can wrestle power from the APC.
In his response to Ologbondiyan’s claims, Kwankwaso said the NDC remained committed to its presidential ambition and would not support the ADC.
He described the attack on himself and Obi by the ADC as unnecessary and unhelpful.
The former Kano State governor charged the ADC-PCC to address the serious allegations levelled against Atiku by Vice President Kashim Shettima, instead of targeting him and Obi.
The former governor of Kano State accused the ADC of attempting to portray him and Obi as working for the APC.
“Let me state clearly and unequivocally: We will not withdraw our candidature for the ADC or any other party,” Kwankwaso added.
Unlike the pre-2015 opposition parties that rallied behind Tinubu as their National Leader, the current opposition parties do not have an acceptable leader.
In the face of mounting evidence of irreconcilable differences and lack of willingness to sacrifice personal ambitions, certain promoters of ADC, NDC, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Social Democratic Party (SDP) have continued to claim that they have made significant progress towards producing a consensus presidential candidate.
The G100 coalition, had recently in Abuja, expressed optimism as it inaugurated the legal and media committees to provide a framework for negotiations among the parties and their leading presidential hopefuls, including Atiku, Obi, PRP’s Donald Duke and SDP’s Adewale Adebayo.
The Chairman of the G100 Coalition, Prof. Sadiq Gombe, who chaired the session, claimed that discussions involving party leaders and presidential candidates had advanced, expressing confidence that outstanding issues could be resolved before the presidential election billed for January 16, 2027.
However, with the discordant voices coming from the ADC and the NDC, the idea of presenting one presidential candidate remains a wishful thinking.