A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s call for a united opposition ahead of the 2027 presidential election, declaring that any attempt to harmonise opposition political parties is an illusion and a mirage.
Osita while reacting to Atiku’s recent call for a grand political alignment to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general election, said, “the horse has bolted,” accusing the former vice president of being responsible for the fragmentation of the opposition through what he described as repeated violations of Nigeria’s north-south presidential rotation convention.
Atiku, through his media aide, Paul Ibe, had renewed his call for opposition parties to unite following a Federal High Court ruling in Lokoja on the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to Okechukwu, Atiku’s statement was ill-timed and self-serving, especially as many political stakeholders were still questioning the basis of the court’s decision.
He argued that Atiku should take responsibility for what he described as the irreversible disintegration of the opposition coalition, particularly the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which many had initially viewed as a platform capable of replicating the successful merger that produced the APC in 2013.
Osita alleged that the coalition lost its broader appeal after it was turned into what he described as Atiku’s personal “Special Purpose Vehicle,” thereby weakening its ability to unite opposition forces ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Rather than accept responsibility… (Atiku chooses) today to haul blame darts at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, who has no hand in neither dismantling PDP in 2023 nor ADC in 2026,” he said.
While acknowledging that President Tinubu’s administration has made some “unforced errors” that triggered public criticism, the APC chieftain maintained that Atiku’s fierce determination to pursue the presidency—disregarding the country’s delicate zoning and rotation conventions—remains the principal factor behind the opposition’s current conundrum.
Osita mocked the shifting stance of the former Vice President, recalling Atiku’s ultimate confidence just a few months ago when he boasted, “With a coalition candidate facing Bola Tinubu, Bola Tinubu is dead on arrival. This is not a slogan. It’s a fact… Perhaps, in my life, this is the worst administration I have seen in this country. I feel terribly disappointed.”