Former presidential contenders Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Peter Obi have allegedly began talks about a possible merger, with the ultimate goal of forming a formidable party capable of dethroning the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Thisday, the meeting of these political leaders began with one between Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the last presidential election. After the first leg of the talks was deemed successful, another meeting between Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), and other key elements in the PDP began to take shape after the other two stakeholders decided to invite him in.
The conversations, which were claimed to be in their early stages, were based on two pillars. The first is that the three leaders have opted to wait and see the outcome of the election petitions in court, which would determine the second leg of the decision if the court judgement is negative.
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According to the journal, political leaders hoped that the presidential election tribunal would be “just and fair” enough to prove that the election that brought President Bola Tinubu to office could not withstand any reasonable electoral scrutiny and so do the necessary. The leaders are hoping that the tribunal would order a re-election or rerun, which would allow them to form a coalition for the election and challenge Tinubu and the APC again.
According to the sources, if the tribunal rules otherwise, the leaders will consider forming a new party ahead of the 2027 general election, in which they intend to depose the current APC.
“The meeting started with Kwankwaso and Atiku and they have agreed to bring Peter Obi in to set up a formidable opposition after the court cases. Although they have not got to the point of discussing who will lead the opposition, they are leaving it out for now till after the court cases.
“After the court cases, they will plan and come together for a re-election or stand together ahead to fight the 2027 election battle. They are considering a formidable party comprising the PDP, LP and NNPP,” a source was quoted as saying.
