Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai have reportedly agreed to adopt the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the platform for a new opposition coalition aimed at challenging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the decision followed a high-level meeting held on Tuesday involving the trio and other key political stakeholders. A source familiar with the outcome of the talks disclosed that the leaders reached the agreement in the early hours of the morning.
“They have adopted the African Democratic Congress as the coalition party all of them (Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai) are working together. They came to the conclusion last night up till the early hours of this morning. You know politicians meet when we are asleep,” the source said.
The source further revealed that the meeting included other opposition figures and stakeholders, who subsequently established committees tasked with fine-tuning the coalition’s structure and logistics.
“All the leaders and stakeholders of the coalition were there. They set up committees to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, while preparing the way for the eventual public unveiling of the coalition. But effectively, as we speak, the coalition has been born,” the insider added.
While the official launch date of the coalition has not yet been announced, the source indicated that the unveiling is expected “very soon.”
In a related development, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, confirmed during an interview on ARISE News that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had been ruled out as a potential platform for the coalition. He cited deep-rooted internal issues within the PDP as the reason.
Also Read: Tinubu Will Win 2027 Election If the Opposition Fails to Unite – Okonkwo
“In all the analysis I’ve seen so far, nobody has ever bothered about, ‘let’s adopt PDP as the platform.’ We all agree that PDP has an incurable virus. No antibiotic can cure what is ailing PDP, and we don’t want to go into a house that we cannot modify, that is not willing to change. So PDP is not in that list,” Lawal stated.
Lawal also revealed that the coalition’s technical committee had considered two main options: forming a new political party or adopting an existing smaller party with national presence and reform potential.
“Do we get another party that we could move into, modify it, upgrade it, and strengthen it for elections, or do we register a new political party? We have technical committees of experts looking into both of these. And I am sure, as we speak, we are getting to the end of the process,” he said.
The development marks a significant shift in Nigeria’s political landscape, potentially setting the stage for a formidable challenge to the APC in the next presidential election.
