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Chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Salihu Lukman, says Nigeria’s opposition parties must overcome personal ambitions and unite behind a common front if they are to mount a formidable challenge in the 2027 presidential election.
Lukman, who spoke in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, said the opposition must put the country ahead of individual political interests and develop a common programme capable of giving Nigerians confidence in an alternative government.
He said the G100, a group working to facilitate engagement among opposition leaders, had held constructive and frank discussions with political leaders following consultations and an open letter issued last week.
“I think it’s a challenge coming from all Nigerians, that definitely Nigeria deserves better from the opposition.
“And like we have, the last time I was here, I indicated we are consulting, and within a week, we will indicate what direction we want to go.
“And last week, we issued the open letter, and we followed it up, which is what we reported in the statement yesterday, that we had very constructive and frank discussion with our leaders.
“And the bottom line is that, I think everybody acknowledged that the country deserves better, and that we need to, leaders need to put the country first before any other thing.
“And we acknowledge on our own part, the limitation we have. We are dealing with a situation that is already constructed in a way that negotiating it makes it a bit difficult.”
Lukman said the group had proposed the creation of structures that would enable opposition leaders to build stronger relationships, develop trust and reach agreements on concrete issues.
“To that extent, therefore, what we tried to discuss with the leaders, and I think they are in agreement, is on two-fold.
“One, to encourage them to set up structures for engagement that will enable them to develop strong relationship among themselves, based on which they can be able to reach agreement on some of the concrete issues.
“And the reason why I think those conclusions are reached is that the strength of relationship will determine how much sacrifice they can make for each other, or how much trust they can invest in one another.
“And to that extent, I think we have all agreed to move to the next stage, which is basically to bring everybody together and put forward a proposal.
“And some of the proposals are already before them, and they are consulting. And right now we are working with the representatives. All the parties we have mentioned have nominated people who are working together to iron out the details of how the meeting will be conducted, and on the basis of which specific agreement will be reached, on the basis of how we can move forward, and before the 2027 election, have the common front we all desire to have.”
Lukman acknowledged that the personal ambitions of leading opposition politicians remain one of the biggest obstacles to achieving a consensus candidate ahead of 2027.
He said while major opposition figures, including Waziri Adamawa and Peter Obi, have strong followings, only one person can eventually emerge as president.
“I must confess, the point you raise is really, really a very serious issue. And all that we keep saying, which we emphasize to all of them, each one of them wants to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but only one of them can be president.
“And we also, because among us, among the G100, there are also people who strongly support some of them. And we have to appeal to ourselves, just like we are appealing to them, that look, we need to play the bigger picture.
“The bigger picture is that we want them to win the election. We want the opposition to present something formidable, that will give confidence to Nigerians on the basis of which they will come out to vote for them, and they can win the election.
“If we encourage them to go in this divided way, we will repeat what happened in 2023 and come back to square one. And the situation may not be what we are all bargaining for.”
He said the challenge was difficult but stressed that supporters of the various opposition candidates must also consider the broader objective of defeating the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
“I must admit, and I’m not here to present something as if it is a very simple thing. It’s a very difficult task. We are appealing, just like we are appealing to our leaders, and all of us, we are also appealing to Nigeria, including the supporters of this candidate.
“What they want at the end of the day, they want the people they are supporting to win the election. And the main opponent is the APC and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They are the main opponent.
“If we encourage them to continue to contest against each other, it will strengthen the main opponent. And I don’t think that’s the objective anybody is looking for.
“Frankly speaking, we are committed among ourselves in the G100, and from the preliminary discussion we have had with leaders, we have had encouraging signal to ensure that we engage the leadership of the opposition to present something much more formidable.”
Lukman said the G100 was working on two fronts: encouraging opposition leaders to form a common political front and ensuring they agree on what they would do if elected.
“To that extent, we are working at two levels. One, at one level, is to encourage them to engage each other so that they can agree to produce a common front.
“The second level is, what is it, and I hear, and this is a popular, a very constant question if I keep asking, what is it when they win the election they are going to work on?
“And these are the two issues that we are pushing that they have to clarify, because it’s not about changing faces in government.
“It’s about also coming up to say, look, at the end of the day, we acknowledge Nigeria is faced with this problem, and this is how we intend to tackle it.
“Whoever emerges among us, this is the way to go. And I think if we succeed in achieving these two, of course, like you said, there is no time, and we are conscious of that.”
He said the group was working within tight timelines, with plans to bring opposition leaders together by the following week and establish further targets ahead of the 2027 election.
“That is why we are not taking all the time in the world. We gave ourselves one week to do consultation, and within one week we came out, and we are saying we’re now giving ourselves another target that by next week we have to bring everybody in the room.
“It’s another very challenging task. It’s not an easy one, and after next week, we have to come up with another target that will enable that by 2027 election we’re having that common front.
“This is the way we intend to operate. And these are the major questions, so I think you’re hitting the nail on the head, because the concerns are that we’ve seen the politics of anything but the incumbent in the past, and it doesn’t necessarily produce the best leadership.”
Responding to concerns that opposition parties have so far focused more on criticising the government than presenting alternative solutions, Lukman said the G100 was not seeking to dictate to political leaders.
He said the group was instead facilitating discussions aimed at developing a common position and programme for governance.
“My sister, it’s really a tall order, no doubt about it. But challenges are there for human beings to engage with.
“And you are right. I mean, I was asked this question, what is it that the opposition can do differently? My response is that I don’t want to present my opinion as the opinion of the opposition.
“And I know that part of the thing we put before the leadership are issues that will enable them to begin to have common position in terms of programme.
“When they win election, this is what they are going to do. These are the priorities. And by next week, after the meeting, we can be able to talk much more confidently on those issues.
“Because like we said, we didn’t come as G100 to dictate to leaders. We came in to facilitate.
“And as much as possible, what we are trying to do is to encourage leaders to go in the right direction, to find answers to some of the questions Nigerians are asking, which will give Nigerians confidence that this time around the opposition is serious.”
Lukman said discussions with opposition leaders had so far produced encouraging signals, despite the difficulties involved in achieving unity.
“And honestly, like we have said in that statement, the engagement has been quite encouraging and everybody acknowledged the challenges.
“It’s not going to be easy, but we are all committed. The opposition will present something much better and much more formidable to Nigerians because at the end of the day, Nigeria has to come first before anybody’s ambition or interest.”
Boluwatife Enome
