Opposition political parties and key political actors are expected to converge on Abuja on Monday as they seek a common strategy to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 presidential election.
The summit, organised by the political pressure group G-100, is expected to focus on opposition cooperation, possible alliance arrangements and the search for a strategy that could prevent the opposition vote from being split in the 2027 election.
The Social Democratic Party and the Peoples Redemption Party have confirmed their participation, while the Peoples Democratic Party has rejected the gathering, saying it is neither aware of the summit nor involved in any planned opposition alliance.
The G-100, led by former Director-General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman, has maintained that a fragmented opposition would struggle to defeat an incumbent with the organisational and financial advantages of the ruling party.
In a statement on Sunday, Lukman urged opposition parties to set aside their differences and approach the summit with an open mind.
The group said Nigerians were looking to the opposition not only to criticise the government but also to provide a credible alternative ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to the G-100, cooperation would not require political parties to abandon their identities, structures or presidential ambitions.
Rather, it said the immediate goal was to identify areas where the parties could work together despite their differences.
The group argued that previous elections had shown that a divided opposition could strengthen an incumbent by splitting votes, resources and political support among several candidates.
“Division is a choice. Cooperation must now become a strategy,” the G-100 said.
Confirming the SDP’s participation, its National Publicity Secretary, Rufus Aiyenigba, said the party was committed to working with political groups seeking an alternative direction for Nigeria.
He said the party’s presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, alongside its national leadership, would attend the summit at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.
Aiyenigba said the meeting would provide an opportunity for opposition parties to discuss practical areas of cooperation and coordination ahead of the 2027 elections.
The PRP also confirmed that it would attend.
“We are attending,” its National Publicity Secretary, Bello Ishaq, told The PUNCH on Sunday.
The PDP, however, distanced itself from the summit.
The spokesman of its National Caretaker Committee, Jungudo Mohammed, said the party was unaware of any gathering being organised as an opposition summit.
He added that the PDP was not involved in any planned alliance with another political party.
“Any opposition discussion where the PDP is not party to is dead on arrival,” Mohammed said.
Despite the PDP’s position, the G-100 said the summit was not designed to produce winners or losers among opposition politicians.
It said the meeting was intended to begin building a framework for dialogue, coordination and cooperation while respecting the identities and structures of participating parties.
The group also acknowledged that disagreements and competing presidential ambitions were inevitable but urged opposition leaders to focus on what unites them.
The push for a united opposition comes as political parties and prominent politicians position themselves for the 2027 presidential election, with Tinubu seeking a second term.
The prospect of a single opposition candidate has remained a major issue within opposition circles, but disagreements over presidential ambitions, party structures and the terms of any alliance continue to pose challenges.
Diaspora Digital Media had reported that some presidential candidates within the emerging opposition coalition were likely to resist pressure to step down for a consensus candidate.
The G-100’s latest initiative is therefore aimed at moving the opposition unity debate beyond rhetoric by creating practical channels for cooperation.
The group said the opposition had an opportunity to respond to Nigerians seeking an alternative to the ruling party, urging its leaders not to waste it.
Meanwhile, efforts to obtain the positions of the African Democratic Congress and the Nigeria Democratic Congress were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
