Opposition against Tinubu’s re-election; people, groups behind the plot

As the drumbeat of opposition amongst the political class against President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 echoes louder, the scope of opposition seems to have expanded beyond expectation.

Checks show that apart from the bands of visible politicians, civil society groups and politicians working behind the scene, non-politicians, social and political organisations are also joining the bandwagon.

United by the harsh economy following government reform policies, the various groups, individuals and organisations are unfolding strategies to support their positions in divergent ways.

While the politicians plan regime change through elections that will give them the advantage to implement their campaign promises, civil society groups take to activism, drawing the Federal Government’s attention to the inadequacies of its policies, projects and programmes. The politicians want to unseat President Tinubu in 2027; the other groups are demanding the reworking of the government policies perceived to be hurting most Nigerians.

GROUPS

Foremost among the groups is the Southern Leaders Forum comprising the Middle Belt Leaders Forum, MDBLF, Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF and Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

Luka Binniyat, spokesperson of the Middle Belt Forum, MBF, a social and political organisation representing ethnic nationalities in 14 out of the 19 states in the North, said the group has not changed its position on politics since the 2023 elections. According to him, the MBF and the Southern Leaders Forum, comprising Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF and Afenifere led by late Pa Ayo Adebanjo and now by Oba Ladipo Olaitan, agreed that power should go to the South.

“All the groups are still standing on it. In 2023, we supported Peter Obi of the Labour Party. Of course, our choice for president must consider making somebody from the middle belt vice president. The middle belt controls 67 percent of the landmass in the North, including the FCT, excluding Fulani, Hausa and Kanuri ethnic nationalities. We have the numbers,” he told THEWILL on Friday.

Binniyat said the passing of Adebanjo, leader of Afenifere and Chief Edwin Clark, leader of PANDEF, created some gaps in communication within the group, which made it look like the Southern and Middle Belt leaders had gone their separate ways or changed their position on governance.

“But now that the gaps have been filled with the appointment of new leaders to replace the departed ones, we have got together to insist on good governance, restructuring of the country to make for equity and justice and headlong confrontation with insecurity in the country. I must tell you, we are not comfortable with the quality of those appointed by the government to handle security matters.”

Others are the League of Northern Democrats, promoted by a former Kano State governor, Abubakar Shekarau, which at the weekend, declared its intention to join the ADC, mobilised against lawmakers that have defected to APC in violation of constitutional provisions and unite civil rights and northern groups to harmonise the region’s positions ahead of the 2027 general election.

The Northern Elders Forum, which alleged that President Tinubu has been “pursuing a regional and sectional agenda since assuming office in May 2023, warning that such a trend threatened Nigeria’s democratic fabric and national unity,” is also up in arms against the President.

Also in the fray is the Obidient Movement, which still nurses the perception that their principal, Obi “won the 2023 election,” and have currently consolidated in about 23 states to, “get their pound of flesh,” in 2027.

POLITICIANS WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES

THEWILL checks show that among prominent politicians working behind the scenes are two former state governors on the platform of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC. They are Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state and his Ekiti counterpart, Kayode Fayemi. Fayemi is said to be cautious in taking sides until when the battle lines are clearly drawn, in the coming months. For Amosun, he is said to have given the opposition politicians a condition for his support: The opposition must give the presidential ticket to a southerner.

As previously reported by THEWILL in last Sunday’s cover story, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo is working behind the scenes to broker a deal that would lead to the emergence of former Anambra Governor Peter Obi and his Kano counterpart, Rabiu Kwankwaso as candidates of the ADC in the 2027 poll.

Feelers from the field indicate that VP Kashim Shettima may challenge President Tinubu using the coalition or mobilise against his reelection if he drops him as running mate. As reported exclusively by this newspaper in its last Sunday cover story titled, ‘2027: Shettima Going…, Going…, Going…’  the President’s camp had perfected a plan to woo Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso into the APC as the most viable replacement of VP Shettima, ahead of the 2026 presidential primaries of the party. This move, followed by the rumble among delegates over the non -endorsement of the VP alongside President Tinubu for the 2027 poll at the Northeast APC summit in Gombe, has created a crack between the President and Vice President. VP Shettima’s remark at a book launch last week Thursday to the effect that the President has no power to remove a governor has further widened the rift between him and the President, despite the response that he was misrepresented by some media outfits.

Former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, is also plotting against Tinubu’s re-election. He is currently in the PDP but silently in the ADC, sources say as well as a former Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, who resents the manner the prolonged crisis in Rivers ended in a peace deal that strengthened the hands of one of the combatants, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, while elders who tried to mediate were relegated to inferior roles.

Immediate past governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki and ex-Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State are said to be taking measured steps to join the coalition.

In another development, a former governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, is said to have concluded plans to join the African Democratic Congress, ADC. To leverage his influence in the state considered as one of the most coveted by politicians because of its voting strength as well as in the North-West geopolitical zone, Shekarau formed the League of Northern Democrats, composed of grassroots politicians in the North.

NON-POLITICIANS

The Take It Back Movement whose National Coordinator, Juwon Sanyaolu, recently kicked against the prevailing hardship in the country saying, “Mass hunger, poverty and mounting insecurity are signs that this is not a democracy. It is organised cruelty.”

Similarly, Professor Pat Utomi, who announced a ‘shadow government,’ recently, last week took some steps in furtherance of his opposition against Tinubu’s government and named a ‘shadow cabinet,’ comprising Nana Kazaure (information), Riwang Pam (security), Nike Omola (women and gender development), and Peter Agada (infrastructure) in defiance of his prosecutors at the Department of State Security, DSS.

The Convener of Country First Movement, Chris Nwaokobia, who is also one of the key figures in the Obidient Movement, has declared that his intention to oppose “the tendency to make Nigeria a one-party state by a government that has left governance and majored in propaganda.”

Dele Farotimi, a leading light in the Obidient Movement and one-time convener of #Bring Back Our Girls, Aisha Yesufu, have been consistent in their opposition to Tinubu’ re-election.

Drawing a subtle distinction between the growing opposition to President Tinubu’s re-election by major groups, individuals, politicians and social and political organisations, Obi Ene, a former ActionAid Nigeria Country Director and Chairman of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room during the 2023 general election, told THEWILL in an interview on Friday that opposition politicians and civil activists are doing the same thing but in different ways.

“Now at this moment, there is a desperation to get President Tinubu re-elected in 2027. And many political parties and politicians formed a strong opposition. Opposition parties do help by putting the party in power on their toes, but we are activists, and we say it as it is,” she said.

She is one of the 12 pro- democracy activists against military rule who recently authored a critical policy direction paper, titled ‘Nigeria at a Crossroads’, detailing the progressive decline in the quality of governance for the past 26 years of civil rule.

The others who signed the paper, which noted that “Nigeria stands at a pivotal juncture, confronting a series of formidable challenges that threaten to derail its progress and undermine its potentials” and suggested key reforms in the areas of corruption, economy and security, are Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Professor Abba Alkasum, Dr Usman Bugaje, Clement Nwankwo, Kole Shettima, Y.Z Yau, John Odah, Akilu Fatima, Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, Salihu Muhammad Kabir, and Hon Uche Onyeagocha.

“Nothing has changed since we wrote that paper in August last year.” She further said, adding, “Our people are suffering unnecessarily. Garri that used to be the staple of the common man is becoming unaffordable, even for the average Nigerian. The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. We were told that once subsidy is removed from petrol, the money realised would be used to repair refineries and fuel would be cheaper. We have our man producing fuel and he gets much of his crude supply from within the country, yet prices of petrol are going up. How can we dollarise the economy when we do not earn in dollars? This is about constructive criticism and we are engaged in it for patriotic reasons. Governance is about the people.”

POLITICIANS WORKING OPENLY

The politicians opposed to President Tinubu are of two types. They comprise those that have entered into a coalition and others that are aspiring for the number one office in the land on their party platforms.

Currently, the prominent faces in the coalition of opposition politicians seeking to oust President Tinubu in 2027 are leaders of political parties acting in their personal capacities because their parties are currently torn apart by crises. They are Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 general election; Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP; former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-rufai, who recently defected to the Social Democratic Party, SDP; former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, member of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC; former Cross Rivers State governor, Liyel Imoke; erstwhile Vice Chairman of the APC, Northwest, Dr Salihu Lukman; ex-presidential aide to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof Umar Ardo.

On Wednesday, July 3, 2025, the coalition formally adopted the African Democratic Congress, ADC, as the party to contest the 2027 polls. The party unveiled former President of the Senate, David Mark as Interim National Chairman and ex-Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as Interim Secretary.

The attendance list was a roll call of politicians in Nigeria, drawn from the major political parties namely, the PDP, APC, LP and SDP.

They included, Atiku Abubakar, PDP; Obi, LP; Nasir el-Rufai, SDP; former President of the Senate, David Mark, PDP;  former Minister of Internal Affairs and ex-governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Rotimi Ameachi, APC; former National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie –Oyegun; ex-National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus;  Senator Aminu Tambuwal; Senator Ireti Kingibe (LP); Senator Eyinnanya Abaribe, APGA; and Senator Elisha Abbo, APC.

Others are former governors of Jigawa, Sule Lamido; PDP, Liyel Imoke; PDP, Senator Gabriel Suswan; PDP, Emeka Ihedioha; LP, Babangida Aliyu; PDP, and Ebonyi state ex-governor, Sam Egwu, PDP. Kebbi and Sokoto State PDP Chairmen, Dr. Ibrahim Mera and Aliyu Goronyo, respectively, Dr Ibrahim Mera as well as the party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature were also there. The immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, resigned from the APC a fortnight ago and joined the ADC.

The list also included Senator Tunde Ogbeha, Senator Victor Umeh of LP; Lauretta Onochie, former Board Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NNDC, APC; Senator Dino Melaye PDP; Chief Tom Ikimi, PDP; Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation magazine, PDP; Akeem Baba-Ahmed, LP; former Minister of Sport, Solomon Dalung; former Minister of Youths Development Bolaji Abdullahi, APC.

As at press time, the ADC had also become attractive to politicians in the opposition across the North-East and North-West geopolitical zones, many of whom have defected in Borno and Yobe states, as well as Sokoto and Kebbi.

For those known to be nursing presidential ambition on the platforms of their political parties, three stand out, two from the PDP, and one form the SDP. The two from the PDP are Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and his Bauchi counterpart, Bala Mohammed, both currently serving their second tenure and final term in office.

SDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Prince Adewola Adebayo, has said he would run again in 2027 on the party’s ticket, even though he polled poorly at 74,656 votes in 2023.

PRESIDENT TINUBU REACTS

President Tinubu recently lashed out at those plotting to unseat him in 2027. “Who is the politician that will keep quiet when the gangsters are forming a coalition to unseat themselves?”, he said in Nasarawa state where he travelled recently to commission projects built by Governor Abdullahi Sule.

The President Tinubu added, “Those who have triggered the early politics are in the perdition of the coalition suddenly. Don’t pay them any attention; they are the political IDPs. Don’t give them a home; the hope is here.”

The President has shown that he is paying close attention to rivals jostling to stop his re-election. As the incumbent who has the biggest war chest among the competitors for the presidency, controls all the instruments of coercion in the land, sources say he may decide to placate many politicians and pull them out of the opposition in the same manner his men have pulled governors, Senators and local government chairmen from the opposition to defect to the APC.

Source: THEWILL