…Engages Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso, Makinde others
By Juliet Umeh
The G100 coalition yesterday said it had concluded the first phase of consultations with major opposition leaders and political parties as part of efforts to forge a united front ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The coalition said it held what it described as frank, constructive and encouraging discussions with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde.
It also engaged leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, and Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Speaking on Arise Television, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Salihu Lukman, said the consultations were aimed at encouraging opposition leaders to build relationships that could eventually lead to a common platform capable of challenging the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2027.
Lukman said the discussions showed that the opposition leaders recognised the need to place national interest above personal ambitions.
“The bottom line is that I think everybody acknowledges that the country deserves better and that we need leaders to put the country first before anything else,” he said.
According to him, the G100 was not seeking to dictate to the opposition leaders but to facilitate discussions towards developing a workable political arrangement.
He said the coalition had encouraged the leaders to establish structures for sustained engagement, arguing that trust and stronger relationships would be necessary for them to make the sacrifices required to achieve opposition unity.
“The strength of the relationship will determine how much sacrifice they can make for each other or how much trust they can invest in one another,” Lukman said.
He disclosed that representatives nominated by the parties were already working with the G100 to fine-tune arrangements for a broader meeting where concrete proposals would be considered.
Lukman acknowledged that personal ambitions among leading opposition figures remained one of the major challenges to achieving a consensus.
“Each one of them wants to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but only one of them can be president,” he said.
He warned that allowing opposition candidates to contest against one another could weaken their collective chances and repeat the experience of the 2023 elections.
“If we encourage them to continue to contest against each other, it will strengthen the main opponent,” he said, identifying the APC and President Bola Tinubu as the principal political opponents.
Beyond producing a consensus candidate, Lukman said the G100 was also demanding a clear policy agenda from the opposition.
He said Nigerians wanted to know what an alternative government would do differently, stressing that the objective should not merely be to change those in government.
“It is not about changing faces in government; it is also about coming up to say, at the end of the day, Nigeria is faced with these problems and this is how we intend to tackle them,” he said.
Lukman said the coalition was working within a tight timeline, noting that it had set another target of bringing the opposition actors together for further discussions.
Although he admitted that the task was difficult, he expressed optimism that the process would produce a stronger and more credible opposition platform.
“Nigeria has to come first before anybody’s ambition or interest,” he said.
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