…Meet At National Assembly
In continuation of a search for a united front to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government, a coalition of opposition politicians under the banner of G-100 on Tuesday met with the Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives to convince the opposition parties to present a common candidate for the 2027 presidential elections.
The G-100 was led by its Convener and former National Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Malam Salihu Lukman, while the House Minority Leader, Hon. Fred Agbedi, led the House Minority Caucus at the meeting.
At the opening of the meeting, Leader of the G100 delegation, Mallam Lukman, said they were concerned about the deplorable state of the nation and the consistent dwindling in the fortunes of the opposition parties.
Lukman, who is a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), lamented that the opposition parties may lose the 2027 general elections as they did in 2023 should they fail to unite and fight the ruling APC.
According to him, “As opposition parties, we seem to be fragmented. And if we continue the way we are going, we are almost going to replay the 2023 scenario. And it’s almost like a case of handing over victory to the ruling party. And then we’ll go back to square one.”
He explained that considering the terrible state of the nation, it was incumbent on the opposition leaders to sacrifice personal ambition and work in the interest of the nation, warning that allowing the APC to secure another four years would spell doom for the nation.
The former APC man stated that “We feel, given the situation the country is facing today, the country cannot afford another four years of APC government. And that whatever it will take to get our leaders back together, to do the needful, and begin to work together to ensure victory in the 2027 election. We need to do it,” Lukman said.
On why the G-100 was convened, Lukman declared that the Tinubu administration had lost touch with reality and there was an urgent need to rescue the nation from rudderless leadership, hence the need for a coalition of selfless opposition leaders to tackle the incumbent head-on.
He said, “Our mission is simple. It was a follow-up to the open letter we issued to our leaders, of which you are part of that leadership, and we all came together out of concern, adding that the concern was that opposition parties remained too fragmented to mount an effective challenge against the APC.
He argued that the current challenges facing the country made it imperative for opposition leaders to put aside their differences and work towards a common political objective, assuring that the G100 was prepared to facilitate whatever negotiations would be necessary to bring the opposition together ahead of the 2027 polls.
The convener informed the minority caucus that their group had already embarked on consultations with key leaders across six opposition political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), New Nigeria Democratic Party (NDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Action Peoples Movement (APM), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He disclosed that the consultations involved presidential candidates, running mates and national chairmen of the parties, with G100 presenting its argument that opposition leaders needed to negotiate a common front if they were serious about defeating the APC.
According to him, so far, the responses from the political leaders consulted had been encouraging, saying it was a result of this that they decided to convene a national summit of opposition leaders fixed for August 31.
He urged the Minority Caucus and other opposition stakeholders to support the initiative, saying the group did not want to proceed alone but intended to bring together Nigerians and political leaders committed to defeating the APC.
“This is not about us; it’s about the country. We are appealing that all leaders who have agreed, we should all come and join hands together and ensure that we support our leaders from the different parties to come together and agree to work towards having a common front for the 2027 election to guarantee victory against the APC.
“We want to ensure that everybody who believes has a role to play is invited. We work with everyone, and that is why we are here. You are our leaders; we want to work with you to reach out to all our leaders and ensure they get it right so that our people can begin to have some comfort that the 2027 election will not be business as usual,” Lukman stated.
He stressed that although the initiative began as G100, with about 100 people signing on to the project, it had since grown beyond its original membership. “It is an organic initiative. We want to ensure that everybody who believes they have a role to play can contribute,” he said.
In his response, the Minority Leader, Hon Fred Agbedi, said the caucus was in full support of the G100 initiative, disclosing that the Minority Caucus had already begun its own consultations with opposition parties, presidential candidates and their nominees to build a formidable opposition ahead of 2027.
He said the caucus had deliberately remained engaged with the initiative during the legislative recess because of its determination to foster opposition unity.
“When we saw the G100, it matched our position. And so, this is a marriage of confidence, and we believe that we are keyed in already, individually and collectively, as opposition parties in the House of Representatives in particular,” he said.
He assured the G-100 that the Minority Caucus was ready to work with them and participate in the technical committee established to advance the opposition-unity agenda, adding that the ultimate objective was to “work together to salvage Nigeria.”
According to Agbedi, “As minorities, that was our objective, and because of that, a number of us haven’t travelled since we went on vacation because we decided that we must go around all the parties and the presidential candidates and the other members to make sure that we come together and create a strong and virile opposition for the 2027 election,” Agbedi said.
Also speaking, former member of the House, Hon Sergius Ogun of the Nigerian expressed optimism that the opposition parties have the wherewithal to unseat President Tinubu if only they present a common candidate.
“The weakest of us can defeat this President (Tinubu), but it will be sweeter if we come together. Sweeter, sweeter, swifter and more pleasurable. And we feel we should bring the house together, have a common front.”, he stated.
The former lawmaker argued that if the opposition parties present individual candidates, they will not be able to dislodge the APC, insisting that a united opposition was the only solution to the APC’s misrule.
According to him, “It’s when we can speak with one voice, because today we have only one individual and one party tormenting this whole country. And the earlier we come together as one body and speak for Nigerians, the better for all of us.”
Source: Politics Archives – New Telegraph
