The camps of presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, and his counterpart in Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, have rejected the proposal that opposition parties should unite behind a single presidential candidate to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.

Although both political camps support greater collaboration among opposition parties, neither has indicated a willingness to abandon its presidential ambition as moves to forge a broader opposition coalition intensify.

The development is expected to present a major hurdle to the G-100 initiative, a political pressure group convened by former Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman, which has been pushing for a united opposition platform ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

G-100 has argued that presenting one opposition candidate would provide the strongest challenge to the ruling All Progressives Congress and improve the opposition’s chances of defeating Tinubu.

However, the positions of the Atiku and Obi camps indicate that while opposition parties may be willing to cooperate, agreeing on a single presidential standard-bearer could prove considerably more difficult.

Speaking with on Saturday, Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the former vice president had moved beyond the stage of merely discussing an opposition summit.

Shaibu said Atiku had already presented policy alternatives to Nigerians and would leave the final decision to voters in 2027.

“We have moved beyond this conversation. Atiku has brought to the table the policy alternatives, including what he would do with petroleum subsidy if elected. His policies are about the people and they are not hidden. Come January 2027, Nigerians will make their choice. This is where we are today,” he said.

He urged Nigerians to judge the presidential contenders based on their programmes and policy proposals, while maintaining that Atiku remained the most prepared opposition politician to take over the leadership of the country.

Obi’s camp has similarly maintained that the former Anambra governor possesses the political credentials and support base needed to mount a serious challenge to Tinubu.

Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, has since joined the National Democratic Congress amid ongoing efforts to realign opposition forces ahead of 2027.

While the NDC has welcomed the G-100 initiative, the party rejected the argument that all opposition parties must unite behind one candidate to defeat the APC.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, said G-100 deserved commendation for promoting opposition unity but maintained that Nigeria’s political history showed that an incumbent president could be defeated without every opposition party adopting a single candidate.

“Under a multi-party democracy, it is possible for one of the parties to defeat a sitting president. It happened in 2015 and it was only fragments of the All Progressive Grand Alliance and the Peoples Democratic Party that teamed up to form an alliance with the All Progressives Congress and they were able to defeat President Goodluck Jonathan,” Director said.

He said the NDC would not approach the 2027 election from the position that the opposition could only defeat the APC by merging behind one presidential candidate.

However, the party has already made its preference known should opposition parties eventually agree to a coalition arrangement.

Asked about the possibility of a consensus candidate, Director said the opposition should select the strongest candidate, adding that the NDC considered Obi the best option.

“We have made the point clear that we should choose the best candidate in the opposition and we in the NDC believe that Peter Obi is the best if he is allowed to lead the coalition. This is our position,” he said.

The divergent positions highlight one of the major challenges confronting efforts to build a formidable opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 presidential contest.