Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has indicated the potential formation of an opposition coalition aimed at defeating President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.
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Atiku made this announcement during a press conference at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Thursday, March 20, 2025. He confirmed that he, along with the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has initiated a movement focused on unseating Tinubu in the upcoming election.
Key opposition leaders and political stakeholders attended the conference to discuss President Tinubu’s controversial declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State.
However, when journalists asked whether the emerging coalition would be the major opposition force against the APC in 2027, Atiku did not mince words.
“Yes,” he declared.
Atiku’s confirmation signals a renewed effort by Nigeria’s fractured opposition to unite under a single umbrella and unseat Tinubu’s government.
Although details remain sketchy, SaharaReporters had earlier gathered that high-level meetings had been ongoing between opposition figures, including key former allies of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, to strategise on a formidable challenge to the ruling APC.
Sources within the opposition told SaharaReporters that discussions had been ongoing between Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai, former Attorney General of Federation Abubakar Malami, and other notable political actors.
SaharaReporters learned that Pastor Tunde Bakare, who contested and lost to President Bola Tinubu in the APC presidential primary election, was among those planning to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
These figures, previously at odds during the 2023 elections, are now coming together in what analysts describe as an unprecedented bid to wrestle power from Tinubu and the APC.
Other opposition heavyweights who graced the press conference included National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) Peter Ahmeh and Segun Showunmi, the convener of The Alternative political movement.
Obi, who was absent, was represented by his spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko.
Beyond merely forming a coalition, sources say key figures are considering using the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as their political platform for 2027, following El-Rufai’s dramatic defection from the APC to the SDP earlier this week.
Atiku, Peter Obi, Osinbajo, Other Ex-Buhari Officials Among Political Figures Planning To Join SDP After El-Rufai’s Defection –Sources
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