Some change advocates, who want President Bola Tinubu removed in 2027 have insisted that only a strong alliance between the major opposition political parties in the country can oust the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

This followed recent statements by the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi and his New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, counterpart, Rabiu Kwankwaso that the rumoured merger talks between key parties was fake.

DAILY POST reports that some reports had alleged that Kwankwaso, Obi and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party had agreed to form an alliance against the ruling party ahead of 2027.

The report stated that Kwankwaso reached an agreement that himself and Atiku would serve for four years each as Nigerian president, while Peter Obi would do eight.

But, in an interview with BBC Hausa, Kwankwaso denied the purported agreement, saying that events that unfolded in the previous elections should make some leaders refrain from anything related to the selection of candidates.

According to him, some northerners, “who declared themselves as the leaders of the north”, should allow the people to choose who they really want to be President.

Also clearing the air, Obi, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday declared that there was no merger deal between him and any opposition figure.

The former governor, however, rallied all patriotic Nigerians, especially in the opposition parties to consider coming together in 2027 to sack the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

No opposition party can solely defeat APC except they all come together – PDP chieftain

Moved by the statements, a chieftain of the PDP in Benue South, Mathias Adache who spoke with DAILY POST on Saturday pointed out that the highly anticipated change of government could only be achieved through a formidable alliance between the three major opposition parties.

According to him, “there is no way the PDP or Labour Party can defeat Tinubu in 2027 if they don’t come together. They tried this thing individually in 2023 but it didn’t work for us, so what magic do they want to do in 2027?

“There is power in unity, until we unite against our common enemies, we may never get out of this mess.

“Greediness is the problem with some of our politicians. Instead of having the interest of the nation at heart, they are being sponsored by their selfish interests.

“Someone like His Excellency Atiku Abubakar should not be talking about contesting for presidency in this country again if he really has the interest of the nation at heart. I expected him to organize the opposition parties and be their leader.

“Don’t be surprised if you hear that the ruling party is behind the confusion we have here and there, otherwise, how difficult is it for these people to come together and sack the APC?

“The truth is that APC knows that the moment these opposition figures are able to reach agreement, their tenure will be over.

“They know this because it was the same strategy that brought them into power in 2015. Without the alliance of other parties, only ACN as it was then, could not have removed former president Jonathan.

“Their greatest nightmare is if PDP, LP and NNPP come together. But they will spend billions to make sure it never happens.”

Lack of unity between opposition parties gave Tinubu victory in 2023 – Ternenge

A chieftain of the Labour Party, Henry Ternenge says the division among the opposition parties was responsible for the emergence of the current government in 2023.

According to him, “the opposition will always find elections difficult as long as we continue to operate a multi-party system.

“No matter the rigging, this illegitimate government wouldn’t have emerged in 2023 if we only had one opposition party.

“In that 2023 election, Atiku scored over 6.9 million votes, Peter Obi got 6.1 million votes and Kwankwaso also scored 1.4 million votes then Tinubu who won the election got 8.7 million votes.

“This tells you that Tinubu didn’t win the majority of votes cast. If you sum Atiku, Obi and Kwankwaso’s votes, you will have over 14 million votes.

“This means 14 million people voted against Tinubu, while only 8 million voted for him.

“He was able to win because the 14 million votes were divided. If it was a two-party system as we have in the US and other countries, Tinubu wouldn’t have won that election.

“I expected that by now, these opposition figures would have teamed up and started preparing to remove this APC but they are not ready.

“I read somewhere where the ruling party said that no magic would make Tinubu lose the election in 2027. They are saying this because they know that these people cannot come together”.

No automatic ticket for Peter Obi – LP insists

Meanwhile, the Labour Party has insisted that there would be no automatic ticket for the former Anambra governor, Peter Obi.

Obi was the party’s flagbearer in 2023 following his detection from the main opposition party, PDP.

This time, the party is insisting that both the presidential, the governorship and other positions are up for contest.

In a chat with DAILY POST on Saturday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh said “No political party gives automatic tickets, all positions are up for contest”.

2027: Opposition members intensify merger calls, as LP insists no automatic ticket for Obi