The camps of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi have turned down a proposal by the G-100 political pressure group urging opposition parties to present a single presidential candidate to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.
According to reports on the emerging coalition, while both sides recognize the necessity of greater collaboration among opposition factions, neither appears willing to step aside from their presidential ambitions.
This development could complicate efforts by the Salihu Lukman–led G-100 group—the former Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum—to build a unified opposition front, which it advocates as the most strategic path to defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress.
However, the positions taken by the teams of Atiku and Obi suggest that reaching an agreement on a single presidential candidate will present a greater challenge than uniting the opposition parties under a shared platform.
Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, stated on Saturday that the former vice president has moved past conversations limited strictly to hosting an opposition summit.
He noted that the Nigerian electorate will ultimately decide based on the specific policy frameworks presented by the respective presidential contenders.
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NDC rejects single candidacy
Following the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential campaign, the former governor of Anambra State has aligned with the NDC amid ongoing opposition realignments targeting 2027.
While supporting the G-100’s overall mission, the NDC dismissed the notion that presenting a single consensus candidate is essential to defeating the ruling party.
Party spokesperson Osa Director noted that while efforts to unite opposition forces are commendable, historical precedents demonstrate that an incumbent can be unseated without every opposition group coalescing behind one candidate.
“Under a multi-party democracy, it is possible for one of the parties to defeat a sitting president. It happened in 2015 and it was only fragments of the All Progressive Grand Alliance and the Peoples Democratic Party that teamed up to form an alliance with the All Progressives Congress and they were able to defeat President Goodluck Jonathan.
“So, the NDC is not going into the 2027 election with that self-defeatist approach that the opposition cannot defeat the APC unless all the parties come together,” Director said.
The NDC spokesperson made it plain that his party had already decided on who it believed to be the strongest candidate in the event that the opposition eventually agreed to a coalition presidential ticket, while rejecting the claim that a single candidate is the only path to victory.
On the question of a consensus candidate, Director said, “We have made the point clear that we should choose the best candidate in the opposition and we in the NDC believe that Peter Obi is the best if he is allowed to lead the coalition. This is our position.”
G-100 initiatuve summit
The G-100 stated that its primary objectives are to prevent the division of opposition votes and to present the Nigerian electorate with a credible alternative to the ruling party.
The group’s upcoming summit on August 31 is expected to further test whether these varied opposition interests can move past a baseline agreement on cooperation toward concrete decisions regarding organization, policy, and leadership.
However, efforts to obtain an operational update on preparations for the summit were unsuccessful, as Lukman did not answer phone calls or reply to WhatsApp messages.
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