The Democratic Front (TDF) has described the failure of the recently held G100 opposition summit in Abuja as evidence that opposition parties remain too divided and politically weak to pose a serious electoral threat to President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Danjuma Muhammad, and Secretary, Wale Adedayo, the group said the poorly attended and inconclusive summit exposed the deep divisions within the opposition and demonstrated the difficulty of forging a united political platform against the President.
TDF particularly cited the absence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Peter Obi, candidate of the New Democratic Congress (NDC), describing their non-attendance as a major setback to efforts to build a common opposition front for the 2027 election.
“We view the conspicuous absence of the presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, and his NDC counterpart, Peter Obi, from the recently held Summit of opposition parties in Abuja, as a major setback in the opposition’s conspiracy to wrest power next year,” the group said.
According to TDF, the summit represented the climax of what it described as a failed attempt by opposition parties to produce a single presidential candidate capable of challenging Tinubu in 2027.
The group recalled that Atiku and Obi had previously championed the Ibadan Declaration, which it said was aimed at persuading opposition parties to adopt a unified platform against President Tinubu.
TDF, however, said their emergence as presidential candidates of the ADC and NDC respectively had complicated the proposed alliance, arguing that both politicians had now developed “cold feet” towards the idea of surrendering their individual presidential ambitions for a consensus candidate.
“It is indeed sad to note how badly Atiku and Obi’s rabid pursuit for power have negatively impacted opposition politics in Nigeria,” the statement said.
The group accused the opposition of losing its ideological and philosophical direction, alleging that internal party discipline and cohesion had been weakened by personal ambitions, political disputes and multiple litigations.
It further alleged that disregard for party constitutions and what it described as “political brigandage” had affected opposition parties at the national, state and local government levels.
TDF also faulted what it called the opposition’s contradictory position on Nigeria’s democratic space.
According to the group, opposition parties had accused President Tinubu of attempting to establish a one-party state, while simultaneously seeking to persuade several registered political parties to adopt a single presidential candidate.
“This is because the opposition had mischievously accused President Tinubu of plotting to close the democratic space to a one-party state, only to turn round to dramatically embark on moves to compromise the principle of multi-party democracy, by attempting to adopt a single presidential candidate from the registered multiple political parties in the country,” it said.
TDF concluded that the inability of the opposition parties to reach agreement on a consensus presidential candidate was a clear indication of their current disarray.
It therefore maintained that, in their present state, the opposition parties lacked the cohesion, organisation and political strength required to constitute a serious electoral threat to President Tinubu’s bid for re-election in 2027.
