The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ajibola Basiru has dismissed the decision of opposition leaders to field a single presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections to dislodge President Bola Tinubu.
Basiru said the opposition parties can explore coalition talks, but noted they can’t resolve fundamental disagreements, including which party would produce the joint candidate.
He said the opposition’s internal crises would stop them from producing a unified presidential ticket impractical, adding that that the ambitions of key political figures would ultimately undermine any consensus arrangement.
Basiru said “we wish them luck if they can have it, but they will still have to fly on the platform of a particular political party, so they should first agree on which particular party they want to fly their so-called candidate.
“I can assure you that they are just engaging in delusion. There are 19 political parties in Nigeria today, and many of them will have presidential candidates. Even within their own group that they are calling a coalition of opposition, they will not agree on who is going to fly the presidential ticket.
“They are just deluding themselves. All of them want to be president: Atiku wants to be president, Obi wants to be president, Kwankwaso wants to be president, Seyi Makinde wants to be Vice President, so who is going to be their president?”
Basiru said the APC was not distracted by “political theatrics,” adding that his party remained focused on strengthening its structures and preparing for the next elections through membership expansion and transparent primaries.
According to him, the APC was confident of its position ahead of 2027 and was open to facing any candidate presented by the opposition at the polls.
“As far as we are concerned, we are focused on mobilising the Nigerian people, concentrating on our membership drive and conducting transparent primaries. So, we are not bothered about the circus that they are doing.
“The only thing is that we are happy they have the opportunity of organising what they called the opposition summit, but that also speaks to the false narrative that they are peddling that Nigeria is becoming a one-party state.
“They (opposition) should concentrate on facing their own political issues rather than lying to the Nigerian populace. We are ready to meet any of them at the polls,” he added.
