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The G100 has proposed a Government of National Competence anchored on a single four-year transition term as part of a framework to unite Nigeria’s opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The proposal was presented by Mallam Salihu Moh. Lukman at the Summit of Nigeria’s Opposition Political Parties held on Monday at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
Representatives of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) attended the summit, alongside presidential and vice-presidential candidates and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
Lukman said the proposed government would be based on competence, integrity, national inclusion and fair representation, backed by a four-year National Reset Programme.
“The Framework before you propose something more demanding than a merger of ambitions: a Government of National Competence, built on competence, integrity, national inclusion, and fair representation of every party that contributes to the effort,” he said.
He said the proposed single-term arrangement must be backed by an enforceable agreement rather than political promises.
“We want to underline the word ‘enforceable.’ This gathering does not need more sincerity. Nigerian politics has never suffered from a shortage of sincere promises.
“What it has suffered from is promises that nobody could enforce when the person who made them changed his/her mind,” he said.
Lukman added that any agreement reached by the parties “must be written, it must be witnessed, and it must have consequences.”
He cited the opposition’s failure to unite in the 2023 presidential election, when votes were split among major opposition candidates, as evidence of the consequences of political division.
“The winner took just under nine million votes. One opposition candidate took close to seven million. Another took just over six million.
“Thirteen million votes on one side of the argument, under nine million on the other. And the side with fewer votes formed the government, lawfully, constitutionally, and entirely predictably,” he said.
The G100 proposed three standing bodies for the coalition: a Central Leadership Committee, a Publicity and Communication Committee and a Legal Committee.
Five working groups are also expected to develop proposals within four weeks on a National Covenant for Democratic Renewal, a Single-Term Transition Charter, a National Reform Programme, a Framework for Opposition Unity and a roadmap towards selecting a common presidential candidate.
Lukman stressed that the summit was not seeking the dissolution of any political party or the immediate withdrawal of any presidential candidate.
“It is not asking any party to dissolve. It is not asking any party to disappear into another party. It is not asking any candidate to stand down this morning…
“That question is not on the agenda of this Summit, and any report that says otherwise will be wrong,” he said.
He urged the parties to be open about their positions, warning that disagreements could be resolved through negotiations but concealed positions could destroy the coalition.
“A hard line declared this morning is a problem that can be solved between now and the Second Summit.
“A hard line concealed this morning is a coalition that collapses in October, and that one will collapse in public too, only later, and at far greater cost to everybody in this room,” he said.
Lukman said the G100 was not supporting any candidate or party, but was seeking an opposition alliance capable of presenting Nigerians with a credible alternative government.
“We are not promoting any candidate, no preference among the six parties in this hall, and nothing to gain from one of you rather than another.
“Our only interest is the one stated in the Doctrine we published on August 2: that a democracy is sustained not merely by holding elections, but by the credible possibility of an alternative government,” he said.
The proposed framework is expected to be developed further by the working groups before being presented to a second summit for consideration and adoption.
