Salihu Lukman, convener of the G100 political pressure group and former national vice-chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has disclosed that opposition parties could announce a consensus presidential candidate just days before the 2027 general election. Speaking during an interview on Channels Television's Hard Copy programme, Lukman said the process of building an opposition alliance was advancing steadily, with party leaders now driving the engagement directly rather than leaving it to the G100.
Opposition Parties Taking the Lead
According to Lukman, the G100 was set up to push political parties and their candidates to work together ahead of 2027, and the group had already recorded more progress than it initially expected. He said the parties had moved beyond early-stage discussions and were now reaching out to additional political organisations to expand the proposed alliance beyond the six parties already involved.
“I can tell you categorically, and my confidence about that comes from what I see in the leadership of the parties. They are committed and they are working, taking all the steps necessary,” he said. He added that the negotiations would cover not just presidential candidates but also those contesting Senate, House of Representatives, governorship and state House of Assembly seats, making the scope of the coalition broader than a single ticket.
Lukman also addressed the question of timing, saying the parties could make a public announcement two months, a few weeks or even only days before the election, depending on how the consultations progressed.
Trust Deficit Remains the Core Problem
Despite the optimism, Lukman was candid about the difficulties facing the coalition effort. He said the absence of trust among the parties and their candidates remained the most significant barrier to agreement. “The major issues which you journalists keep highlighting and you don't help matters at all is the trust deficit among even the parties and the candidates,” he said, warning that without resolving this, the opposition could fail to unite behind a single candidate.
He urged supporters of opposition figures such as Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to encourage their preferred candidates to make sacrifices rather than insist only their candidate could win. Splitting opposition votes across five or more candidates, he argued, would effectively hand the ruling APC another victory.
Plans for a Minimum Policy Framework
On policy, Lukman said one of five working groups agreed upon at a summit held on August 31 would focus on developing a shared programme of action. The goal is not to merge each party's manifesto but to produce a minimum set of commitments that every participating candidate would agree to implement if elected. He cited fuel subsidy policy as one area where candidates had already developed proposals that the working group could draw on. Representatives nominated by the parties themselves would carry out this work, ensuring that decisions remained within the political parties rather than with outside actors.
Lukman also confirmed he had suspended his membership of the African Democratic Congress over internal concerns, saying the move helped remove perceptions that he was using the G100 to advance the ADC's interests.
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that six opposition political parties held consultations with the presidential candidates of five parties as part of efforts to build a coordinated front ahead of the 2027 general elections. A statement signed by Lukman on behalf of the coalition parties on October 14, 2026, said the national chairmen and national secretaries of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) were involved in the meetings, which took place separately. The candidates consulted include Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the ADC, Governor Seyi Makinde of the APM, Mr Peter Obi of the NDC, Prince Adewole Adebayo of the SDP and Mr Donald Duke of the PRP.
