2027: Nigeria’s Opposition Opens Fresh Talks on One Candidate to Challenge APC

Nigeria’s opposition parties are making another attempt to solve one of their biggest problems ahead of the 2027 general elections: how to stop competing against one another and rally behind a single presidential candidate.

The latest push is being coordinated by the G100, a group of 100 Nigerians that has been consulting opposition leaders and political parties in an effort to build a broader alliance against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The group says its first round of consultations has been completed, with discussions involving prominent figures including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra State governor Peter Obi, former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde.

The talks are expected to move into a more decisive phase at a National Council of Opposition Leaders summit in Abuja on August 18.

Representatives of the G100 have also held discussions with leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and National Democratic Congress, according to the group.

The objective is straightforward but politically difficult: create a framework under which opposition parties can work together and eventually produce one presidential candidate capable of mounting a serious challenge to President Bola Tinubu and the APC.

The idea is not entirely new.

At an opposition summit in Ibadan in April, political leaders agreed in principle to work towards a single presidential candidate for 2027. But the arrangement subsequently ran into one of the oldest problems in Nigerian politics—who gets the ticket.

Several of the politicians who participated in the earlier discussions have since emerged as presidential candidates, underscoring just how difficult it is to translate an agreement on unity into an actual political arrangement.

That is precisely where the latest G100 initiative faces its biggest test.

Salihu Lukman, an ADC chieftain involved in the consultations, acknowledged that many of the leading opposition figures want the presidency themselves. As he put it, only one person can ultimately occupy the office.

The argument being put to the opposition is that continuing to run separately could reproduce the dynamics of the 2023 election, when votes were split among several major challengers.

But the G100 is insisting that the proposed alliance should not simply be an anti-Tinubu arrangement.

Lukman said the opposition also needs a clear policy programme capable of answering the problems Nigerians are facing. The objective, he argued, should not merely be to replace the people in government but to explain what an alternative administration would actually do differently.

That could prove crucial.

A coalition built solely around defeating the APC may bring together politicians with very different interests, ideologies and ambitions, but keeping such a coalition together after an election would be another matter entirely. A shared programme could provide the political glue needed to make the alliance more than a temporary electoral arrangement.

The G100 appears to recognise that problem.

Its consultations have deliberately been held away from the media, allowing party leaders to discuss sensitive issues without the immediate pressure of public commentary. The group says it is not seeking to impose a particular candidate or outcome but to create conditions in which the parties can negotiate their differences.

That approach may be important given the personalities involved.

Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso and other opposition figures each command distinct political constituencies and have their own supporters, structures and presidential ambitions. Convincing any of them to step aside for another candidate could require significant concessions over the presidency, vice presidency, party leadership and the distribution of political influence.

There is also the question of which political platform would carry the alliance.

The ADC has emerged as a major vehicle for the opposition coalition, while other parties continue to maintain their own structures and presidential ambitions. Any final agreement would therefore have to resolve not only who leads the ticket but how the participating parties retain meaningful influence.

For the APC, the renewed opposition discussions present a potentially important challenge, but also an opportunity.

The ruling party has already dismissed previous opposition unity efforts, while divisions within the opposition have historically made it easier for incumbents to consolidate support. A genuinely united opposition would change that calculation by forcing the 2027 election into a much more direct contest.

The August 18 meeting could therefore become an important moment.

The G100 says the next phase will focus on turning the goodwill generated during its consultations into a practical political framework. Whether the major opposition figures are prepared to make the compromises required remains the unanswered question.

Nigeria's opposition has spent months talking about unity. Now it faces the harder part: deciding who will give way, who will lead and what they will stand for together.

For FollowGlobalTrends, that is what makes the latest negotiations more significant than another political meeting in Abuja. If the opposition can overcome its leadership ambitions and agree on a credible common platform, the 2027 presidential race could become considerably more competitive. If it cannot, the same divisions that shaped the last election could once again determine the next one.