The presidential candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar; the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi; and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) candidate and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, were conspicuously absent as leaders of Nigeria’s six main opposition political parties converged on the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Monday for the first summit of Nigeria’s opposition political parties.
Although the three heavyweights were absent, the summit was not short of presidential and vice-presidential candidates, with Prince Adewole Adebayo of the SDP, Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and the APM vice presidential candidate, Lawal Musa Daura, present alongside National Working Committee (NWC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) members of the participating parties.
In opening remarks delivered on behalf of the G100, Mallam Salihu Moh. Lukman proposed a Government of National Competence anchored on a single four-year transition term, describing it as central to the broader framework being canvassed for opposition cooperation.
“The Framework before you proposes something more demanding than a merger of ambitions: a Government of National Competence, built on competence, integrity, national inclusion, and fair representation of every party that contributes to the effort,” Lukman said.
He stressed that such a government should be “secured by a political commitment to a single four-year term, written into an enforceable Transition Charter,” insisting that any agreement reached at the summit must be binding rather than symbolic.
Tracing the history of opposition politics in the Fourth Republic, Lukman recalled that the opposition contested the presidency divided in 2003, 2007, and 2011, but achieved victory in 2015 after parties agreed on rules of engagement. He said that discipline was abandoned in 2023, when opposition votes were split among candidates who jointly polled more than the eventual winner.
“The winner took just under nine million votes. One opposition candidate took close to seven million. Another took just over six million. Thirteen million votes on one side of the argument, under nine million on the other. And the side with fewer votes formed the government, lawfully, constitutionally and entirely predictably,” Lukman said.
He described the outcome as self-inflicted rather than the product of any conspiracy. “Nobody stole thirteen million votes. We divided them ourselves, in public, and we did it knowing exactly what the consequence would be,” he added.
The G100 said the gathering followed its publication, on August 2, of the ‘Doctrine of a Necessary Democratic Opposition’ and several weeks of direct consultations with the leadership of the six opposition parties. Those consultations, it said, culminated in a shared briefing titled, ‘A Framework for Opposition Cooperation and Coordination,’ which identified areas of convergence among the participating parties while recognising their distinct histories, identities, and political interests.
The summit brought together representatives of the ADC, APM, NDC, PDP, Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), PRP, and SDP, as well as presidential and vice-presidential candidates, national officers, and members of the National Assembly Minority Caucus.
Five working groups are expected to produce documents within four weeks for consideration at a second summit. They are: the National Covenant for Democratic Renewal, Single-Term Transition Charter, National Reform Programme, Framework for Opposition Unity, and Roadmap to a Common Presidential Candidate.
The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has announced a partnership with G100 to galvanise opposition political parties for a common front ahead of the 2027 elections. Minority Leader Rep. Fred Agbedi (ADC-Bayelsa) made this known while addressing newsmen after a closed-door consultation meeting with a delegation of the G100 in Abuja.
“We have also used this opportunity to call on all members of the opposition, no matter the party you belong to, no matter your ambition, that there is strength in unity and that the opposition should unite to ensure that we wrest power from the APC in 2027,” Agbedi said.
He urged leaders of the various opposition parties and presidential candidates to develop what he described as an attitude of working together, saying Nigerians are facing severe hardship and frustration. “Nigerians are seriously in pain, Nigerians are wailing, Nigerians are so frustrated, and there is no reason why, as opposition voices, we should not stand up for Nigerians and bring support to them,” Agbedi said.
The G100, in a statement by Salihu Lukman ahead of the summit, urged opposition leaders to approach the parley with the understanding that they are stronger together.
The group noted that “there will be disagreements, competing ambitions and difficult conversations. These are natural in politics, but none should prevent us from recognising the greater danger of allowing our differences to deny Nigerians a credible alternative”.
“The experience of elections in Nigeria and elsewhere has repeatedly demonstrated that a divided opposition often strengthens the incumbent. When parties competing for the same broad constituency fragment their energies, resources and votes, they risk turning their differences into an unintended advantage for those they seek to replace,” the group stated. “Division is a choice. Cooperation must now become a strategy”.
“Tomorrow is not about declaring winners or losers within the opposition. It is about beginning the work of ensuring that Nigerian democracy wins. Alone, each opposition party can make its case. Together, the opposition can change the course of the country,” Lukman said.
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