2027: After G100 summit, uncertainty lingers over unity documents

Seven weeks after six opposition parties agreed to create five documents for their cooperation ahead of the 2027 general elections, there are still questions about whether these documents are ready.

Representatives from the parties have consulted five politicians named by G100 as presidential candidates.

G100 coordinator Salihu Lukman says they have settled on basic terms for a working group to explore options for picking a common candidate.

But PREMIUM TIMES could not confirm if the five documents suggested at the 31 August summit have been finished, submitted, or accepted.

While speaking on Channels Television’s Hard Copy programme on 16 October, Mr Lukman noted that the parties took more responsibility for the talks. He also pointed out ongoing distrust among the parties and candidates, warning that efforts to agree on a common candidate might fail.

On 14 October, Mr Lukman announced that national chairpersons and secretaries from six opposition parties had consulted five presidential candidates over about two weeks.

The candidates consulted were Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Seyi Makinde, Adewole Adebayo, and Donald Duke.

The six parties involved are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to Mr Lukman, the consultations aimed to move forward the resolutions from the August summit, find common ground, and create plans for cooperation.

“We have succeeded beyond some of our expectations,” he said during the interview on Channels Television.

He did not announce any final agreement among the presidential candidates.

In another chat with PREMIUM TIMES, ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi confirmed that his party joined the G100 discussions.

He described the talks as attempts to build electoral cooperation, including plans to protect opposition votes, not just negotiations for a single presidential candidate.

His view places the consultations within a wider coordination effort, while Mr Lukman’s comments suggest picking a common candidate is a key point of discussion.

Neither official confirmed any requirement for participating parties to withdraw their presidential candidates or support a single ticket.

Mr Abdullahi added that the national chairpersons and secretaries were leading the talks, with Mr Lukman giving them more responsibility after initially gathering them.

The challenges of forming a common-candidate arrangement became clear after a public disagreement between the ADC Presidential Campaign Council and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the NDC’s vice-presidential candidate.

This clash followed Mr Kwankwaso’s request for ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to step down for NDC’s Peter Obi.

On 16 October, ADC campaign council spokesperson Kola Ologbondiyan accused Mr Kwankwaso of undermining opposition unity and pushing President Bola Tinubu’s political interests.

He said the former Kano State governor should focus on challenging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) instead of attacking other opposition candidates.

Mr Kwankwaso denied the allegation on 18 October.

“We will not withdraw our candidature for ADC or any other party,” he said, confirming that the Obi, Kwankwaso ticket plans to run for the presidential election.

He dismissed claims of working for the APC and criticized both the ruling party and the ADC, stating that neither offered the alternative his party is presenting to Nigerians.

The ADC campaign council shot back later the same day, accusing Mr Kwankwaso of targeting the ADC instead of the Tinubu administration. They challenged him to openly align with the APC if that was his aim.

Even though Mr Kwankwaso rejected stepping back from the NDC ticket, he did not announce the party’s exit from G100 consultations.

This disagreement shows the competing presidential ambitions that the proposed Roadmap to a Common Presidential Candidate would need to manage.

At the 31 August summit, the parties suggested five working groups to prepare documents aimed at guiding their cooperation before the 2027 elections.

The National Covenant for Democratic Renewal would lay out the principles of the proposed alliance, while the Single-Term Transition Charter would describe the terms and safeguards for a possible single four-year transitional government.

The National Reform Programme would identify shared policy priorities, while the Framework for Opposition Unity would set the structures and procedures for cooperation among the parties.

The fifth document, the Roadmap to a Common Presidential Candidate, would explain the process for negotiating and selecting a common presidential candidate.

The working groups were expected to finish their tasks within four weeks for the coalition leadership to consider.

The Central Leadership Committee had its first meeting on 16 September.

A statement the next day said the committee told participating parties to submit nominees to the working groups by 18 September, with work starting between 21 and 27 September.

It is still unclear if the original deadline was kept or extended, whether nominees were submitted on time, or if all five groups began work as planned.

During his 16 October interview, Mr Lukman mentioned that nominating representatives to the common-candidate working group is part of the process ahead.

He did not specify if these were late nominations from the September schedule or appointments for later negotiations.

Available statements do not clarify if the working groups submitted their proposed documents for the coalition leadership to review.

Mr Lukman noted that the common-candidate working group would create recommendations and options to guide talks among the participating parties.

He acknowledged that distrust among political parties and their candidates could block them from reaching an agreement.

“For us, unless that is addressed, all these issues about coming up with a united front or a single candidate, we may not be able to achieve it,” he said during the Channels Television interview.

Mr Lukman explained that the negotiations would also cover governorship, National Assembly, and state assembly elections.

On policy, he said the goal was not to merge the parties’ manifestos but to develop a minimum program of action that their candidates could support.

He mentioned petroleum subsidies as an example of an issue needing more discussion, saying Atiku’s proposed domestic production subsidy needs a clearer plan for implementation.

Mr Lukman did not say if the parties had agreed on a common petroleum policy.

Earlier, Mr Lukman had suspended his ADC membership due to internal issues, especially concerning his Kaduna constituency.

He recognized that his connection to the party had raised concerns among some G100 members.

Letting the party leaders take charge of negotiations, he said, helped clear those worries.

He did not confirm if he had resumed his ADC membership.

PREMIUM TIMES emailed Mr Lukman on 3 October and in follow-up messages, looking for clarification on the challenges of finding a common presidential candidate, possible cooperation in a presidential run-off, the progress of the five working groups, and plans for the next summit.

He has not replied as of this report.

On 9 October, the newspaper reached out to NDC spokesperson Osa Director with similar questions about the party’s role in the working groups, updates received, and its stance on a common candidate or run-off cooperation.

Despite WhatsApp reminders and phone calls, no substantial response came. Mr Director answered one call and promised to reply later.

Mr Lukman’s later public comments on Channels Television did not clarify the status of the five documents.

Seven weeks after the summit, G100 has reported talks with five politicians named as presidential candidates and plans for more discussions. But no binding agreement on a common ticket has been revealed.

The disagreement between the ADC and Mr Kwankwaso shows the competing presidential ambitions that the proposed common-candidate framework needs to consider.

With the initial four-week timeline gone, questions still remain about whether the five working groups have completed their documents, when the participating parties will discuss them, and if the second summit will happen.