Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai forge opposition alliance; Adopt ADC as official platform ahead 2027 elections

Three of Nigeria’s most prominent opposition figures- former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai have been reported to seal a political pact to unite against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.

The trio reportedly reached a consensus to adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the official platform for a new opposition coalition on Tuesday, May 20, after months of behind-the-scenes negotiations.

“I can categorically inform you that the African Democratic Congress is the coalition party in Nigeria. What remains is merely dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s,” said Mani Ahmed, Chairman of the ADC Board of Trustees, at a recent press briefing.

An anonymous source while confirming the outcome of the meeting, said, “They have adopted the African Democratic Party as the coalition party — all of them (Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai) are working together. They came to the conclusion last night up till the early hours of this morning. You know politicians meet when we are asleep.”

“All the leaders and stakeholders of the coalition were there. They set up committees to dot the Is and cross the Ts, while preparing the way for the eventual public unveiling of the coalition. But effectively, as we speak, the coalition has been born,” the insider added.

Though the coalition has yet to announce an official unveiling date, the source suggested it will happen “very soon”.

Earlier, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, while appearing as guest on Arise News Wednesday, confirmed that whereas coalition talks were progressing, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not considered a viable platform for the arrangement.

When asked whether Atiku was moving to the ADC and why the PDP was not considered the coalition vehicle, Lawal described the PDP as “a house we cannot modify,” stressing that its internal problems were too deep-rooted for it to serve as a credible vehicle for change.

“In all the analysis I’ve seen so far, nobody has ever bothered about, ‘let’s adopt PDP as the platform.’ We all agree that PDP has an incurable virus. No antibiotic can cure what is ailing PDP, and we don’t want to go into a house that we cannot modify, that is not willing to change. So PDP is not in that list,” he said during an interview with ARISE News.

Lawal revealed that the technical committee driving the coalition project had been weighing two main options — to form a new political party, or to adopt an existing smaller party with a national spread and reform potential.

“Do we get another party that we could move into, modify it, upgrade it, and strengthen it for elections, or do we register a new political party? We have technical committees of experts looking into both of this. And I am sure, as we speak, we are getting to the end of the process, and I think we’ll soon announce a party that we’ll move into, or maybe we’ll register a new party,” he said.

The alliance marks a dramatic reconciliation between former rivals whose fragmented bids in the 2023 elections helped secure Tinubu’s win.

Combined, Atiku and Obi polled more votes than Tinubu’s 8.7 million, underscoring the potential strength of a united front.

However, the coalition faces immediate hurdles. Chief among them is selecting a presidential flagbearer—a delicate issue given Nigeria’s informal power rotation between the North and South.

Despite these setbacks, mounting economic hardship under Tinubu’s administration, including soaring inflation and subsidy removal fallout, has bolstered calls for change and breathed momentum into the new alliance.

As one-party insider said, “The suffering in the country is uniting the opposition faster than any strategy document.”