Former Kano State Governor and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has said that only a coalition built by political parties—not individual politicians—can remove President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office in 2027.
Speaking to journalists, Shekarau urged opposition parties to put aside personal ambitions and work together to strengthen the political platform that would challenge the ruling party.
He recalled that in 2011, similar efforts were made by key opposition parties to unseat then-President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Some people misunderstood my statement. For clarity, I did not say a coalition cannot defeat Tinubu in 2027. What I said is that a coalition of individuals, not parties, cannot achieve it,” he said.
Shekarau pointed to the 2011 coalition talks between the now-defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He said the negotiations then involved parties with elected governments, lawmakers, and grassroots structures.
“I was a principal actor in that 2011 effort as the ANPP presidential candidate. We held several meetings at President Tinubu’s residence in Abuja. At a point, the late Muhammadu Buhari, Nuhu Ribadu and I—then presidential candidates of CPC, ACN and ANPP—met at Buhari’s home in Abuja to discuss further. But the talks collapsed, and each of us went into the election under our respective parties,” he said.
According to him, the failure of that attempt provided valuable lessons, which later paved the way for the successful merger of CPC, ACN, and ANPP in 2015.
“That time, we approached the process differently—representing our political parties, not ourselves as individual aspirants. Each party set up a 21-member committee, and I had the privilege of leading the ANPP’s committee,” Shekarau added.
