To the best of our knowledge, there were so many things on the agenda beyond producing a single presidential candidate. One of the lead conveners said it is also about exploring areas of cooperation among the political parties,” Abdullahi said.
“If it will lead to a situation where we have a single presidential candidate, it will be fine. But that is not the main objective of the conversation,” he added.
Despite the explanation, sources said the ADC and NDC were participating in the G100 process partly to avoid being blamed if the opposition ultimately fails to unite before the election.
“In any case, the two key parties, the NDC and the ADC, are just patching up with the opposition alliance, despite the realities in their camps,” one source said.
The source added that the ADC believes it has a route to victory against Tinubu even without the wider opposition alliance, while the NDC is also projecting confidence in its own electoral prospects.
“None of the parties want to carry the blame or stand accused of being responsible for the failure of the G100 agenda,” the source said.
The ruling APC has meanwhile dismissed the possibility of the opposition successfully producing a single candidate, arguing that the parties had already gone through their respective processes and produced candidates.
APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, described the opposition’s attempt to reach a consensus at this stage as unrealistic.
“They cannot get a single candidate. Their case is like a maize inside a bottle that hens cannot eat. That is the analogy,” Basiru said.
He argued that the opposition parties had failed to unite when they had the opportunity to do so before their primaries.
“In the build-up to the primaries, they could not come together. They went their separate ways. They are not driven by the love for Nigeria, but by a selfish agenda. They are dishonest,” he said.
Basiru also maintained that the emergence of candidates across the different political platforms had made the idea of a single candidature difficult to achieve.
“The truth is that candidates have emerged on the platforms of all political parties. It is laughable for anybody to now say he or she wants to have a single candidature. It is like closing the stable when the horse has already escaped,” he said.
He added, “Because they are motivated by their individual inordinate ambition and not the interest of the Nigerian people, they cannot come to any understanding and unanimity as to anybody stepping down for themselves.”
APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, also questioned the seriousness of the coalition effort, pointing to the absence of the major presidential contenders from the Abuja meeting.
“The absence of the principal actors at the gathering was enough to show that their move hit the rock before the journey even began,” Morka said.
He further warned that the opposition could suffer another major defeat at the 2027 election.
“They will be roundly rejected at the polls again. The defeat they suffered in 2023 was child’s play compared to what Nigerians will do to them in 2027,” he said.
