Opposition parties and presidential candidates on Monday began fresh negotiations in Abuja on the possibility of presenting a single candidate against the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 presidential election.
The talks, convened by the G-100 political pressure group at the Yar’Adua Centre, brought together representatives of six opposition parties — 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).
The meeting was attended by PRP presidential candidate, Donald Duke; SDP candidate, Adewale Adebayo; Democratic Leadership Alliance candidate, Moses Olusoji; and APM vice-presidential candidate, Lawan Daura, among other party leaders.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the ADC and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, were absent.
Atiku’s media aide, Phrank Shaibu, said the former vice-president’s absence was unavoidable and should not be interpreted as a boycott 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.
He said Atiku remained committed to building a broad and united opposition capable of challenging the APC in 2027.
Duke said he would support whoever emerged from the negotiations as the consensus candidate.
“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,” he said.
The G-100 convener, Salihu Lukman, said the opposition collectively secured about 13 million votes in the 2023 presidential election but lost because the votes were divided among several candidates.
“Nobody stole 13m votes. We divided them ourselves, in public, and we did it knowing exactly what the consequence would be,” Lukman said.
He said the objective was not to immediately compel any candidate to withdraw but to establish a framework for negotiating competing interests.
“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,” he said.
At the end of the summit, the six parties agreed to establish three committees — Central Leadership, Publicity and Communication, and Legal — to coordinate the negotiations.
They also approved five working groups to develop proposals on a National Covenant for Democratic Renewal, Single-Term Transition Charter, National Reform Programme, Framework for Opposition Unity and Roadmap to a Common Presidential Candidate.
The working groups are expected to complete their assignments within four weeks, after which the parties will reconvene to consider their recommendations.
Lukman said the process would require political sacrifices, noting that “someone in this hall will have to accept an outcome he/she did not want.”
He said the ultimate objective was to provide Nigerians with a credible alternative government in 2027.
