2027: Battle lines drawn as Tinubu, APC govs meet, Atiku, Obi, others plot alliance

• 6 parties open talks on common front, negotiating teams, 5 working groups on table

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

Battle lines for the 2027 presidential election are taking shape as President Bola Tinubu met governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja yesterday, while Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Seyi Makinde, Donald Duke and other opposition leaders prepare for a crucial summit aimed at forging a common front.

Tinubu’s meeting with the governors came eight days after campaigns officially commenced in accordance with the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and five days after the APC unveiled its Presidential Campaign Council.

As the ruling party consolidates its campaign machinery and deploys political heavyweights across the country, leaders of six opposition parties are expected to meet on August 31 to begin structured negotiations on cooperation and coordination, including mechanisms for eventually resolving the thorny questions of presidential candidacy and the shape of a possible alliance.

Tinubu met the governors, under the aegis of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), at the State House shortly after 3p.m.

The engagement followed an earlier meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima and attended by the governors.

Although details of the agenda of the President’s meeting with the APC governors were not immediately disclosed, discussions were still ongoing at the time of filing this report.

The meeting comes amid intensifying political activities and continuing efforts by the ruling party to put its campaign machinery in place.

The APC had five days earlier unveiled its Presidential Campaign Council, naming former Zamfara State governor and serving senator, Abdulaziz Yari, as Director-General.

Former Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, has also been appointed the party’s North-East Zonal Campaign Coordinator, a move the Grassroots Coalition for Change (GCC) described yesterday as strategic to Tinubu’s re-election bid.

The coalition said Sheriff’s political experience, grassroots network and knowledge of the North-East positioned him to spearhead the President’s campaign in a zone expected to feature prominently in the battle for votes.

GCC National Coordinator, Bello Johnson, said the appointment demonstrated Tinubu’s decision to deploy experienced political figures with established grassroots networks to coordinate his campaign across the country.

“Sheriff is focused on one thing: delivering the North-East for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027. He is a politician of repute, and he understands the political terrain of the region,” the coalition said.

“The North-East appreciates the appointment of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. He understands the region, he understands its political dynamics, and he has the network required to engage stakeholders across the zone. We are confident that he is capable of delivering the North-East for President Tinubu.”

The group also dismissed what it described as attempts to discredit Sheriff through negative media reports, arguing that allegations against the former governor had not been established.

“We are confident that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff will rise to the occasion. He is focused on delivering the North-East for President Tinubu, and nobody can distract him with allegations that have never been established,” it said.

While the APC deploys its campaign machinery, opposition politicians are moving to confront perhaps their biggest obstacle to mounting a formidable challenge to Tinubu — fragmentation.

Major opposition presidential candidates, including Atiku, Obi, Makinde, Duke and Adewale Adebayo, are expected at the August 31 summit being promoted by the G-100, a group pushing opposition parties towards cooperation and potentially a single presidential candidate.

G-100, in a statement by Salihu Lukman yesterday, listed African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku; Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Obi; Allied Peoples Movement (APM) candidate and Oyo State Governor, Makinde; Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Adebayo; and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) candidate, Duke, among those expected at the meeting.

The leaderships of the ADC, NDC, APM, SDP, PRP and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are also expected, alongside vice presidential candidates of the opposition parties and the minority caucus of the House of Representatives.

G-100 described the gathering as a “historic meeting” that would begin a structured process towards opposition cooperation and coordination ahead of the elections.

The summit, with the theme, A Framework for Opposition Cooperation and Coordination, is expected to confront some of the most difficult questions surrounding attempts to build a united opposition front, including competing presidential ambitions and the structure of any alliance.

The group stressed, however, that the August 31 meeting would not immediately determine who emerges as presidential candidate of a proposed alliance.

“Cooperation does not require any party to disappear into another. The first question before party leaders is not who leads the ticket. It is what we are, together, prepared to do for this country,” G-100 said.

The push for a common front echoes an earlier warning by Duke that a fractured opposition pulling in different directions would weaken its capacity to challenge the ruling party in 2027.

Duke, who is contesting on the PRP platform, described the configuration as a “splintered opposition with a common goal,” warning that competing ambitions could undermine the opposition’s chances.

“If you are all pulling in different directions, you weaken” the opposition, Duke said.

He argued that opposition forces needed to negotiate and compromise if they hoped to provide Nigerians with a viable alternative.

“Ideally, the opposition should come together,” Duke said, warning that operating separately “weakens the possibility of real impact.”

The August 31 summit could provide the first formal platform for testing that proposition, bringing Duke into negotiations with Atiku, Obi, Makinde, Adebayo and leaders of the major opposition parties.

G-100 stressed that the first meeting would not attempt to settle the potentially explosive question of which presidential candidates might eventually have to step aside.

“The First Summit is not intended to determine, in a single sitting, questions of presidential candidacy or the final form that opposition cooperation may take.

“Its immediate purpose is more fundamental — to establish and authorise a formal architecture through which those questions can be negotiated collectively, transparently and in good faith.”

The summit follows the group’s publication on August 2 of the Doctrine of a Necessary Democratic Opposition and weeks of consultations with the leaderships of the six opposition parties.

According to G-100, those consultations produced a shared briefing, A Framework for Opposition Cooperation and Coordination, identifying areas of convergence while recognising the parties’ different histories, identities and political interests.

“At the centre of the consultations was a common recognition of the need for a credible, organised and competitive democratic opposition, and a willingness to engage the difficult questions that meaningful cooperation ahead of 2027 will require,” it said.

Each participating party is expected to attend with a delegation comprising its leadership and key stakeholders.

Among proposals before the summit is the establishment of formal structures to drive negotiations and five specialised working groups to develop the principal documents and agreements required to give institutional form to opposition cooperation.

Subject to the decisions of the participating parties, the working groups will have four weeks to complete the assignment.

With Tinubu and APC governors closing ranks, the ruling party deploying campaign coordinators across the country and opposition parties preparing to negotiate a framework for cooperation, political manoeuvring for the 2027 presidential contest is rapidly gathering pace.