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Says opposition must unite to defeat APC
In the run-up to the 2027 general election, the G-100, a coalition of opposition politicians pushing for opposition parties to field a single presidential candidate in next year’s polls, has met with the House of Representatives Minority Caucus.
One of the conveners of the G-100, Salihu Lukman, while addressing the leadership of the minority caucus at the National Assembly on Tuesday, said it is imperative for the opposition parties to form a united front against the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the January 16, 2027 presidential poll.
Lukman, a former National Vice Chairman of the APC, said there was a need for the opposition to avoid the mistake of the 2023 general election, where the ruling party won the presidential poll because the opposition was not united.
He explained that the group, which consists of members of various opposition political parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Social Democratic Party (SDP), is already talking with the leaders of the parties on the need to join forces to prosecute next year’s general election.
According to him, “As opposition parties, we seem to be fragmented, and if we continue the way we are going, we are almost going to repeat the 2023 scenario, and it’s almost like a case of handing over victory to the ruling party, and then we go back to square one.
“And we feel, given the situation the country is facing today, the country cannot afford another four years of APC government, and that whatever it will take to get our leaders back together to do the needful and begin to work together to ensure victory in the 2027 election, we need to do it.
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“We presented our concern and insisted that the only pathway to victory is for leaders to come together and begin to negotiate a common front on the basis of which the 2027 election will be contested, and like we reported in the press statement we issued, we got very cordial responses from almost all the leaders.”
Lukman noted that, in pursuit of its objective, the group has scheduled a summit of opposition political parties for August 31, noting that “we come to you again to say we have shifted the summit to 31st August. We don’t want to proceed alone. There are many Nigerians who have indicated good support, and we want to work with everybody.
“This is not about us; it’s about the country. We are appealing to all leaders who have agreed, we should all come and join hands together, and ensure that we support our leaders from the different parties to come together and agree to work towards having a common front for the 2027 election, in order to guarantee victory against APC.”
The minority leader, Fred Agbedi, while speaking at the meeting, said the goals of the G-100 align with the objectives of the minority parties in the House and pledged the support of the Caucus for the initiative.
Agbedi explained that “the last time we met, we told you that you are welcome to a friendly point because, as minorities, that was our objective, and because of that, a number of us haven’t travelled since we went on vacation because we decided that we must go around all the parties and the presidential candidates and the other members to make sure that we come together and create a strong and viral opposition for the 2027 election.
“This is a marriage of convenience, and we believe that we have keyed in already individually and collectively as opposition parties in the House of Representatives. In particular, we assure you that we’re going to work together. The minority leadership is here with you, and we ensure that we work together to salvage Nigeria.”
