Opposition leaders seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election may not settle on a consensus candidate until days before the poll, former Progressives Governors Forum Director-General Salihu Lukman has disclosed.
Lukman, convener of the G-100 political pressure group, said opposition parties were committed to negotiations aimed at preventing a division of votes among rival candidates, insisting that an agreement could emerge even at the last minute.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Hard Copy programme on Saturday, he expressed confidence that the parties would eventually agree on one candidate despite lingering disagreements and a lack of trust among their leaders.
According to him, the announcement could come months, weeks or just a few days before the election, when supporters of the participating parties would be expected to rally behind the agreed candidate.
“I can tell you categorically, and my confidence about that comes from what I see in the leadership of the parties: they are committed and they are working, taking all the steps necessary,” he said.
Lukman disclosed that the negotiations had expanded beyond the six political parties initially involved, with efforts underway to bring more parties into the proposed alliance.
The G-100 emerged from efforts to unite opposition forces following an all-opposition summit in Ibadan in April 2026, where participants resolved to pursue a common presidential candidate against the ruling All Progressives Congress.
However, Lukman said the political parties and their presidential candidates had taken over the process, moving beyond the pressure group’s initial efforts to build a united front.
He identified mutual suspicion among opposition leaders as the biggest obstacle to reaching an agreement, stressing that the parties needed to develop sufficient confidence in one another to accept the outcome of the negotiations.
A summit held on August 31 reportedly agreed to establish five working groups, including one responsible for working out the process for selecting a consensus presidential candidate.
Lukman said representatives would be nominated by the parties through their presidential candidates or party leadership to ensure that those involved had the authority to make decisions on their behalf.
He also warned supporters of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and the Kwankwasiyya movement against adopting rigid positions that could undermine the alliance.
“Taking a hardline position, a rigid position, is almost like working for the APC and the Tinubu government at this point,” he said.
Lukman noted that many signatories to the G-100’s open letter supported either Atiku or Obi but maintained that the national interest should take precedence over individual ambitions.
“The country is superior to any individual,” he added.
He argued that opposition parties risk weakening their chances of mounting a united challenge to Tinubu if they insist on fielding separate candidates and splitting their support base.
Citing comments by Catholic cleric John Cardinal Onaiyekan on Channels Television, Lukman said the arithmetic of the election made cooperation necessary.
“The arithmetic is simple: you can’t split votes five ways and expect victory in one of you,” he said.
Beyond choosing a candidate, the opposition must also resolve differences over policy proposals and agree on a common programme of action.
Lukman cited the Social Democratic Party candidate’s proposal for an initial petrol pump price of N300 per litre as an example of the policy differences that would need to be addressed.
He clarified that the alliance was not seeking to merge the manifestos of the participating parties but to develop a minimum programme that any candidate emerging from the arrangement would be committed to implementing.
He said the common agenda would be agreed upon before the selection of a candidate so that whoever emerged would have already accepted the coalition’s priorities.
According to him, the parties’ existing policy proposals should provide a foundation for the exercise, noting that Obi, SDP candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo and other presidential aspirants had already undertaken work on their respective programmes.
Lukman also said the eventual consensus candidate could emerge from the African Democratic Congress, another participating party or a new party created through an alliance.
“It could be ADC, it could be any other party, or it could be an alliance that will produce a new party,” he said.
He dismissed suggestions that he was pursuing personal political ambitions through the coalition-building effort, declaring that he had no plans to seek elective or appointive office.
Lukman further explained that his earlier withdrawal from the ADC was prompted by internal issues in Kaduna State, adding that he had since resumed membership of the party.
He said he had been concerned that the ADC could reproduce the same internal problems associated with established political parties the opposition was seeking to displace.
His remarks come amid continuing efforts by opposition leaders to build a common platform ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with the choice of a candidate, competing ambitions and agreement on a shared policy agenda remaining major challenges to the proposed alliance.
Don’t Miss Out! Join our WhatsApp Channel for instant news updates. Click here to join
