Opposition parties regroup for 2027

By Chibelo Obogo

Opposition parties are regrouping and plotting strategies to oust the All Progressives Congress (APC) from power as the 2027 general election draws closer.

For the Alliance for Democratic Congress (ADC), its major hurdle was crossed when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) , recognised David Mark as the interim national chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as the national secretary.

A reliable source privy to the inner workings of the ADC told Daily Sun that with the hurdle of recognition of the David Mark-led executive crossed, the next aim of the party is to build structures from the ward to the national level.

“You must not forget that what this party is trying to achieve is to correct the mistakes of the abuses in the other bigger parties. For instance,  situations in which somebody will sit down here in Abuja and write a name without going through an electoral process, for the emergence of candidates. They don’t want that. Two, the party wants to be youth-driven, which is why, if you look around, you discover that those coming out to speak are largely from the youth demographic.

“The party is looking at the direction in which those who are described as older people will give power to younger people, 60 and below. Even for the executive position, affirmative action is there, where  they have more than 35% women representation.”

On the issue of who would likely emerge as its presidential candidate, the source said: “When you talk about presidential candidates, there are principal people that we know have presidential interests but conversations within the fold have not zeroed in on who is going to be the candidate. It hasn’t because the platform has to be strong before you can talk about candidates. Talking about candidates now is like putting the cart before the horse and that in itself would destroy the fundamentals of what we are trying to build.”

The source said the party would soon have its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

“That is where the decision on the date for the Congress would be made and the modalities to guide the party will be agreed on.

“In a very short time, you will begin to see a flurry of activities. Don’t forget that  ADC wasn’t a major political party and that’s why I described it as a virgin political party and it’s just beginning to gain relevance and that is why the APC is terribly scared. The game plan of the ADC is to focus on the youth demographic even in their elective offices. The party is coming up with a 50-man policy committee that would map out the party’s manifesto. I do not know when the ADC will hold its congress but what I know for a fact is that they will soon hold their NEC and it is at that meeting that the issues around the congress will be agreed on.”

For the Labour Party (LP), it would be recalled that in August, INEC told a Federal High Court in Abuja that the Julius Abure-led faction did not have the necessary rights to field candidates for positions in the  by-elections held  across the country.

The LP has been embroiled in leadership tussles between Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) and Senator Nenadi Usman who was elected as the chairman of the national caretaker committee. The leadership crisis resulted in the rejection of a list of the party’s candidates submitted by Abure for the by-elections which were held in August.

Abure had in protest filed a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1523/2025, challenging  the powers of INEC to exclude the party’s candidates from the polls. But in its response, the Commission insisted that the tenure of the NEC led by Abure had expired. The commission, in a counter-affidavit said that it did not monitor a National Convention of the plaintiff held on March 27, 2024, at Nnewi in Anambra State, where Abure claimed that he and other members of the NEC were re-elected.

With the Commission denying Abure’s claim, Daily Sun learnt that Nenadi Usman who enjoys the backing of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi is gradually taking over the structure of the party and consolidating her authority.

During a virtual meeting of the Coalition for the Defence of Democracy (COPDEM),  she approved a set of strategic initiatives, including a nationwide membership registration and revalidation drive, targeting 10 million new members; ward, local government, and state congresses leading up to a national convention to elect a substantive leadership team.

She said these reforms are expected to be concluded by the end of 2025 to ensure the party is better prepared for the 2027 polls.

For the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), there is still no visible strategy. At the moment, the party is still divided on what it wants. A section of the party led by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State is pushing for former President Goodluck Jonathan to clinch the party’s ticket while another section doesn’t want the party to field any candidate till 2031. At the moment, some of the party’s governors and National Assembly members tacitly support President Bola Tinubu and have promised to aid his re-election.