The renewed push for a united opposition ahead of the 2027 general election may be part of a broader political manoeuvre to ultimately produce an Atiku Abubakar-Seyi Makinde presidential ticket.
Multiple sources familiar with emerging conversations within the opposition said the latest campaign for unity, particularly around the African Democratic Congress (ADC), could eventually require the displacement of a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, from the vice-presidential calculations in favour of Makinde, the governor of Oyo State.
The emerging scheme is said to be one of several options currently being considered by opposition leaders searching for a formidable platform and a politically viable ticket capable of challenging President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
While one bloc is believed to be working around the ADC, another group of political actors is said to be considering the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) as an alternative rallying platform for opposition forces.
In recent months, different clusters of opposition leaders have intensified consultations on how to overcome the divisions that weakened their collective challenge to the APC in previous elections.
At the heart of the difficulty, however, are the competing presidential ambitions of leading opposition figures, a factor that has repeatedly frustrated attempts to build a single formidable political front.
It is against this background that a fresh campaign for opposition unity has gathered momentum, with influential political figures and civil society actors warning that another fragmented contest in 2027 could once again hand the APC a significant electoral advantage.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is believed to be one of the major elder statesmen encouraging conversations among some of the leading opposition figures in the wider interest of forging a common front.
THISDAY gathered that another round of consultations being facilitated around the former president is expected to bring together key actors in the opposition, including Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, as discussions over the shape and leadership of a possible coalition intensify.
The political consultations have also received support from a newly formed coalition of 100 concerned Nigerians operating under the banner of G100.
The group recently urged opposition leaders to subordinate their individual ambitions to the larger objective of presenting Nigerians with a credible alternative to the ruling APC.
In an open letter titled, “The Doctrine of a Necessity for Democratic Opposition,” the coalition warned that a divided opposition would weaken democratic accountability and confer an enormous advantage on the ruling establishment.
Among the leading figures associated with the initiative are Salihu Moh. Lukman, Nnena Ukeje, Simon Achuba, Anthony Kila, Ayokunle Fagbemi, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, Zainab Buba Galadima, Aliyu Audu and Aminu Datti Ahmed.
The group urged opposition leaders to negotiate an electoral arrangement anchored on a single presidential candidate, a common programme, coordinated strategy and shared political purpose.
Its appeal was directed at leading opposition figures, including former Senate President David Mark; former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Peter Obi; Makinde; Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed; former Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson; Amaechi; former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso; former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and several others.
Although the G100 maintained that its intervention was neither designed to promote a particular politician nor advance the interests of any political party, sources claim the broader unity conversation has begun to intersect with intense negotiations over what a possible consensus presidential ticket should look like.
The sources said one of the options gaining traction in some circles is an Atiku-Makinde ticket.
Makinde, it was gathered, is being considered not only for the geographical and political balance he could bring to such a ticket, but also because of the enormous financial demands of prosecuting a nationwide presidential election.
According to sources familiar with the discussions, Makinde’s position as a serving governor and his access to an established political structure have made him particularly attractive to those concerned about the funding and logistics required for a serious presidential campaign.
Some actors within the coalition, the sources said, believed his presence on the ticket could ease the financial pressures ordinarily associated with a nationwide campaign and strengthen the opposition’s organisational capacity.
Sources further disclosed that Makinde had featured prominently in earlier conversations around Atiku’s possible running mate before Amaechi eventually emerged in the political calculations surrounding the ticket.
Sources claimed Amaechi’s emergence followed intense negotiations after disagreements arising from the presidential nomination process, including threats of legal action over its outcome.
But the latest attempt to reposition Makinde could reopen old fault lines.
Party insiders squealed that Amaechi, having fought hard to secure his place within the emerging arrangement, is unlikely to voluntarily surrender the vice-presidential slot.
This represents perhaps the biggest obstacle to those pushing the Atiku-Makinde option.
Any attempt to alter an already negotiated political arrangement would require delicate consultations among the principal actors and could provoke another round of disagreement within an opposition already struggling to reconcile several competing ambitions.
Sources said those behind the unity initiative are therefore confronted by a difficult balancing act: how to assemble the widest possible coalition against the APC without alienating powerful figures whose interests may have to be sacrificed in the process.
For the opposition, the stakes could hardly be higher.
While there is growing agreement among its leading figures that defeating the APC would require greater cooperation and possibly a single formidable presidential ticket, reaching agreement on who occupies the two positions on that ticket remains a far more difficult proposition.
The push for unity may therefore prove easier than the negotiations required to achieve it.
And should the Atiku-Makinde calculation gather greater momentum, the fate of Amaechi could become one of the earliest and most consequential tests for Nigeria’s disparate opposition in search of unity ahead of the 2027 elections.
