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…The former APC boss says six parties are working on an alliance and warns against splitting votes
Toyyibat Qasim
Convener of political pressure group G100, Salihu Lukman, said opposition parties seeking to oust the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general elections may unveil a consensus presidential candidate days before the elections..
Lukman, a former national vice president of the APC, said opposition leaders are committed to the plan and are working to reach an agreement on a single candidate who can challenge President Bola Tinubu.
He revealed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Hard Copy program, adding that the announcement could come months, weeks or even days before the elections.
“I can say this categorically, and my confidence in this comes from what I see in the leadership of the parties: they are committed and they are working, taking all necessary measures,” he said.
He added: “So it could be two months to the election, a few weeks to the election, or a few days to the election; they will come out and tell Nigerians that this is the direction, and everyone will be queuing up.”
The G100 was established to mobilize opposition parties towards a common political front following an all-opposition summit held in Ibadan in April 2026, where participants agreed to work towards presenting a consensus presidential candidate against the APC.
Lukman said the initiative has moved beyond the pressure group’s original role, with political parties and their presidential candidates taking ownership of the process and engaging each other to build the trust needed for a successful alliance.
He added that the coalition-building effort was no longer limited to the six parties initially involved, revealing that consultations were underway to bring other parties into the deal.
“They are also working to expand; they are reaching out to other parties,” he said.
Trust deficit threatens opposition alliance
Lukman identified the lack of trust between opposition parties and their presidential candidates as one of the main obstacles to the emergence of a consensus candidate.
According to him, the parties have taken steps to address the challenge by establishing working groups to coordinate discussions and develop a framework for the proposed alliance.
He said a meeting held on Aug. 31 agreed to establish five working groups, including one specifically tasked with working to produce a single presidential candidate.
Under the agreement, each participating party is required to nominate representatives through its presidential candidate or party leadership, based on agreed terms of reference.
Lukman explained that the structure was designed to ensure that decisions are made by parties and their candidates rather than imposed by external actors.
“The constituency is basically about ensuring that both the parties and their candidates are the ones making the decisions, and at the same time the people doing the work are people who have the mandate of both the parties and the candidates, not someone from the outside,” he said.
According to him, the success of the initiative will depend on the willingness of political actors to trust each other and give priority to the broader goal of defeating the ruling party.
Obi, Atiku supporters urged to embrace unity
The former APC boss also warned supporters of former Labor Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Kwankwasiyya movement against adopting rigid positions that could undermine efforts to unite the opposition.
He argued that pushing individual candidates at the expense of a broader coalition could ultimately benefit the APC and the Tinubu administration.
“Taking a hard stance, a rigid stance, at this point is almost like working for the APC and the Tinubu government,” Lukman said.
He noted that several signatories of the G100 open letter in support of opposition unity were themselves sympathetic to Obi or Atiku, but had been urged to place national interest above individual political ambitions.
According to him, if the opposition hopes to mount a credible challenge in 2027, the country must take precedence over the ambitions of individual politicians.
Lukman also cited a recent comment by Catholic cleric John Cardinal Onaiyekan on the same television station, arguing that opposition candidates could not divide their votes among multiple contenders and reasonably expect one of them to defeat the ruling party.
“The arithmetic is simple: You can’t split the votes five ways and expect victory in one of you,” he said.
His remarks come amid ongoing political realignments and discussions among opposition figures on how to challenge the APC in the next presidential elections.
The coalition does not plan to merge the parties’ manifestos
On how the proposed alliance would reconcile differences in the political positions of the participating parties, Lukman said the plan is not to merge their manifestos but to develop a common minimum action program for an opposition-led government.
He cited differences in policy proposals, including the promise of a Social Democratic Party candidate to introduce a starting petrol pump price of N300 per litre, as an example of issues that may require discussion between the candidates.
Lukman said the proposed program will identify priority areas for implementation by whichever candidate emerges as the flag-bearer of the coalition and wins the election.
“It’s not about harmonizing manifestos; it’s fundamentally about coming up with a minimum program of action that the government that will be produced after 2027 will prioritize implementing,” he said.
He explained that all participating candidates are expected to sign up to the agreed program prior to the selection of a consensus candidate.
The deal, he said, would avoid disagreements over policy priorities after the emergence of the coalition’s standard-bearer.
“In case any of them emerge as candidates, there will be no debate,” he added.
Lukman expressed confidence that the process will build on policy proposals already developed by various presidential campaigns, including those of Obi, Prince Adewole Adebayo and other opposition figures.
Lukman rules out political ambition
The G100 convener said the eventual agreement could take different forms, depending on the outcome of negotiations between the participating parties.
He said the coalition could produce a candidate under the African Democratic Congress, another existing political party or a new party created through an alliance.
“It could be the ADC, it could be any other party, or it could be an alliance that will produce a new party,” he said.
Lukman, however, distanced himself from any personal political ambitions, insisting that his involvement was driven by a desire to facilitate opposition unity rather than to secure an elective or appointive position.
“I have no ambition to contest elections and I have no ambition to hold any nominative or elective office,” he said.
He warned that opposition politicians risk compromising their collective goal if they remain attached to their individual candidacies despite the need for a common front.
“Politicians can lie to themselves and ultimately let candidates continue to stand; in the end only one person will be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
Explains the return to the ADC
Lukman also spoke about his earlier retirement from the ADC, attributing the development to internal party issues in Kaduna State.
He said he had resumed membership of the party, but expressed concern that its internal direction could undermine the broader goal of building a credible alternative to the existing political establishment.
According to him, he was concerned that the ADC was moving towards a model similar to that of the parties that some opposition figures had abandoned in search of political change.
He said he feared the party was “moving in a direction where we will end up reproducing the old parties that we left behind.”
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