- List 40- 100 Arrowheads Per State To Kick-Start State-wide Consultations
By Abiola Olawale
A massive political power play is in the works ahead of the 2027 General elections, with prominent opposition political figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi, former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, former governor if Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, former Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, former Education minister and erstwhile governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekerau, immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and former Senate president, David Mark, among others, set to hold crucial meeting this Sunday in Abuja.
The New Diplomat checks reveal that apart from meeting to formalize pending matters, a key agenda of the Sunday meeting is to formalize a list of political bigwigs who will form the arrowheads of the emerging coalition in each state of the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).
The meeting which is scheduled to hold thus Sunday, according to insiders, is expected to come up with a list of about 40 to 100 political stalwarts who will coordinate the opposition coalition in each state while discussings on viable coalition platform they would all fuse into is on-going, The New Diplomat gathered.
The New Diplomat’s checks reveal that apart from the above personalities who are billed to participate
at the meeting, some old allies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who are said to be citing unhappy political developments especially in the North and state of the economy, are said to have shockingly pitched their tents with the opposition.
“There are people who are known old allies of Mr President in the North and the South but they have shifted their political support to the new coalition as the Consultative forum gathers momentum. You will be shocked by their names, but I won’t mention them now…”, a source close to the group confided in The New Diplomat.
The closed-door meeting expected to be hold on Sunday is billed to weigh various political options, including mopping up smaller grassroots political parties, and strengthening international pressures ” to ensure the 2027 election is free, fair and transparent.”
Said an insider:”We just want the election to be free, fair and transparent, and the coalition which is a movement will win hands down ”
The proposed meeting, according to the source, is also expected to deliberate on how the coalition could put up a unified front to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
Also believed to be on the agenda of meeting is how to explore ways to harmonize various interests, ideological positions and regional interests into a the emerging formidable coalition.
The meeting is coming on the heels of the solid endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday by the APC as its sole presidential candidate. The move, according to many, might have weakened the spirit of the opposition and potentially have far- reaching political implications on the race towards 2027.
Meanwhile, the Sunday meeting of the opposition which insiders described as “crucial” is expected to lay the foundation of a potential fresh dynamics in Nigeria’s political landscape ahead of 2027.
“The coalition is focused on creating a formidable front to challenge Tinubu’s APC. Next week’s meeting will formalize talks and address some pending concerns. This is about giving Nigerians a credible alternative,” the insider told New Diplomat.
Recall that the Shekarau-led League of Northern Democrats (LND) recently declared support for the national opposition coalition in its bid to scale-up support to challenge Tinubu in the 2027 presidential polls.
In a communique issued at the end of the LND’s general assembly meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, Umar Ardo, the convener, said the league would take a final decision on whether it would fuse into an existing political party or register a new one.
“We resolved to contribute to the dialogue on either registering a new political party or fusing into an existing one. We resolved that our first option is to register a new party to accommodate many independent members of the larger established political parties who currently feel reluctant to move into a smaller party but who are willing to move out to form a new party,” the group said.
The scheduled Abuja meeting is coming amid growing calls on the opposition groups to forge unity, as Nigeria grapples with inflation, insecurity, and unemployment.
Recall that Obi had expressed his intention to join any coalition that would end “poverty, unemployment, and economic hardship”
It would also be recalled that El-Rufai, had on Wednesday, during the second edition of the Arewa Tech Fest, a three-day event in Katsina, vowed that the upcoming coalition will send Tinubu back to Lagos come 2027.
“They (the organising team) had to come without me because yesterday (Tuesday) at 8pm there was a very important meeting of the coalition we’re putting together to ensure that President Tinubu goes back to Lagos,” El-Rufai stated.
