₦airaland Forum

A member of the opposition coalition led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the immediate past Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has described as false and misleading the report that it has adopted the African Democratic Congress as its preferred political platform.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by a stakeholder of the coalition and former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman in Abuja on Thursday.

The former Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum also denied the claim by an online medium that he has been appointed to head the secretariat of the coalition, adding that the reports may have been planted in the media.

Lukman made the clarification in the wake of reports that the coalition had settled for ADC following the gale of defections by opposition leaders and federal lawmakers to the APC in the past few weeks.

Earlier, another key member of the coalition and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, had ruled out the Peoples Democratic Party, which he described as an ‘incurable virus’ in a previous exclusive interview with The PUNCH.

Lukman, however, assured all that once the negotiation is concluded, a formal announcement will be made by the leaders of the coalition.

According to him, consultations among the relevant stakeholders and opposition figures are progressing well.

The statement read: “The public should disregard the story as it is completely false. No such decision has been taken. Also false is the report that the coalition has adopted the ADC at its meeting on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.

“The truth is negotiations among all the coalition leaders are progressing very well, and final decisions about the political platform for the 2027 election will be taken soon.

“Unfortunately, there appears to be some mischief makers promoting and planting stories in the media with the clear aim of sowing seeds of discord among coalition leaders.

“The public and the media should please disregard all these mischievous stories.”

Okoroawusa:
Beremx biko run and come o! I hope you are trying towel because the floor is wet....🤣🤣🤣🤣.

This my sister sef...🤣

Okoroawusa:
Beremx biko run and come o! I hope you are trying towel because the floor is wet....🤣🤣🤣🤣.

This my sister sef...🤣

mrvitalis:
Coalition better hide the political party they want to choose till the last minute

Thy should keep throwing out fake names

Antichristian2:
It will still be DOA!

Na to share and spread votes!

emkz:
At some point, Atiku needs to be fair to Nigerians.

We are not yet fully ready for someone of the same tribe to succeed someone from his tribe. Tafawa Balewa was succeeded by an Igbo man (Ironsi) who was succeeded by an Angas (Gowon) who was succeeded by a Fulani (Murtala Muhammed). Murtala Muhammed was succeeded by a Yoruba man (Obasanjo) who was succeeded by a Fulani (Shagari). Shagari was succeeded by Fulani (Buhari) who was toppled by IBB, whose exact ethnic identity is still controversial. IBB was succeeded by a Yoruba man (Shonekan) who was succeeded by a Kanuri (Abacha). ABaqcha was succeeded by an Hausa (Abdusalam Abubakar) who was succeeded by Yoruba (Obasanjo) followed by Fulani (Yar'adua) and Ijaw (Jonathan). Jonathan was succeeded by a Fulani (Buhari) who was succeeded by Yoruba (Tinubu).

If we want to be fair, an Igbo, Edo, Itsekiri, Efik and so on also deserve a shot. But rotating the presidency among 371 ethnic groups is impractical. But moving the presidency twice in one ethnic group in one succession is unfair. When Buhari succeeded Shagari then, we saw the mess both of them left, and the further mess IBB (who has also been rumoured to be Fulani) left that Nigeria is yet to recover from.

Atiku has aspired in every election since 2007. Even as he aspires for 2027, he has not yet come to explain to us how he'd be different. The outcome of his first outing with Obasanjo ended in disaster especially in the gross mismanagement of power sector reforms, sale of government assets, dollar subsidy in the name of defending the naira, getting debt relief to borrow new debt instead of plugging the funds into building a new national or regional grid or rapid industrialization and political indiscipline through electoral fraud him and Obasanjo masterminded.

Atiku may need to accept he had his chance and the results are not encouraging.

As for the matter of rotating the presidency, we must understand that unity is a fundamental ingredient that we need as a nation. Many may call for secession. Without seceding, look at how Simon Ekpa encouraged his people to murder his people. If Nigeria secedes, these pockets of violence may be spread into smaller groups as they'd still cry marginalization. For now, let each state invest in internal security. Set up vigilante groups, so that your own people would police their communities. Instead of using the funds to sponsor unproductive Hajj subsidies which add no value to the states, use them to pay those vigilante. By the time people feel safe, secure and can fend for themselves, no one would care so much about who is in Abuja. Until such a time, let the presidency rotate between north and south, but not between north and north or south and south.

emkz:
At some point, Atiku needs to be fair to Nigerians.

We are not yet fully ready for someone of the same tribe to succeed someone from his tribe. Tafawa Balewa was succeeded by an Igbo man (Ironsi) who was succeeded by an Angas (Gowon) who was succeeded by a Fulani (Murtala Muhammed). Murtala Muhammed was succeeded by a Yoruba man (Obasanjo) who was succeeded by a Fulani (Shagari). Shagari was succeeded by Fulani (Buhari) who was toppled by IBB, whose exact ethnic identity is still controversial. IBB was succeeded by a Yoruba man (Shonekan) who was succeeded by a Kanuri (Abacha). ABaqcha was succeeded by an Hausa (Abdusalam Abubakar) who was succeeded by Yoruba (Obasanjo) followed by Fulani (Yar'adua) and Ijaw (Jonathan). Jonathan was succeeded by a Fulani (Buhari) who was succeeded by Yoruba (Tinubu).

If we want to be fair, an Igbo, Edo, Itsekiri, Efik and so on also deserve a shot. But rotating the presidency among 371 ethnic groups is impractical. But moving the presidency twice in one ethnic group in one succession is unfair. When Buhari succeeded Shagari then, we saw the mess both of them left, and the further mess IBB (who has also been rumoured to be Fulani) left that Nigeria is yet to recover from.

Atiku has aspired in every election since 2007. Even as he aspires for 2027, he has not yet come to explain to us how he'd be different. The outcome of his first outing with Obasanjo ended in disaster especially in the gross mismanagement of power sector reforms, sale of government assets, dollar subsidy in the name of defending the naira, getting debt relief to borrow new debt instead of plugging the funds into building a new national or regional grid or rapid industrialization and political indiscipline through electoral fraud him and Obasanjo masterminded.

Atiku may need to accept he had his chance and the results are not encouraging.

As for the matter of rotating the presidency, we must understand that unity is a fundamental ingredient that we need as a nation. Many may call for secession. Without seceding, look at how Simon Ekpa encouraged his people to murder his people. If Nigeria secedes, these pockets of violence may be spread into smaller groups as they'd still cry marginalization. For now, let each state invest in internal security. Set up vigilante groups, so that your own people would police their communities. Instead of using the funds to sponsor unproductive Hajj subsidies which add no value to the states, use them to pay those vigilante. By the time people feel safe, secure and can fend for themselves, no one would care so much about who is in Abuja. Until such a time, let the presidency rotate between north and south, but not between north and north or south and south.

Agbegbaorogboye:
They are playing mind games

I think they just want to remain in the media so as to prepare people's minds subconsciously

That's a good strategy

But the most pragmatic option is for Obi, El-Rufai and the other coalition members to join PDP and kick Wike out

That's the easiest path to the Presidency

Most people might think it's impossible but it's actually easy if you think deeply about it

But why are zombies so concerned about the coalition they claim is bound to fail

They are usually first on any thread about the coalition

Imagine your opposition living rent free in your head

No be wahala be dat?

emkz:
At some point, Atiku needs to be fair to Nigerians.

We are not yet fully ready for someone of the same tribe to succeed someone from his tribe. Tafawa Balewa was succeeded by an Igbo man (Ironsi) who was succeeded by an Angas (Gowon) who was succeeded by a Fulani (Murtala Muhammed). Murtala Muhammed was succeeded by a Yoruba man (Obasanjo) who was succeeded by a Fulani (Shagari). Shagari was succeeded by Fulani (Buhari) who was toppled by IBB, whose exact ethnic identity is still controversial. IBB was succeeded by a Yoruba man (Shonekan) who was succeeded by a Kanuri (Abacha). ABaqcha was succeeded by an Hausa (Abdusalam Abubakar) who was succeeded by Yoruba (Obasanjo) followed by Fulani (Yar'adua) and Ijaw (Jonathan). Jonathan was succeeded by a Fulani (Buhari) who was succeeded by Yoruba (Tinubu).

If we want to be fair, an Igbo, Edo, Itsekiri, Efik and so on also deserve a shot. But rotating the presidency among 371 ethnic groups is impractical. But moving the presidency twice in one ethnic group in one succession is unfair. When Buhari succeeded Shagari then, we saw the mess both of them left, and the further mess IBB (who has also been rumoured to be Fulani) left that Nigeria is yet to recover from.

Atiku has aspired in every election since 2007. Even as he aspires for 2027, he has not yet come to explain to us how he'd be different. The outcome of his first outing with Obasanjo ended in disaster especially in the gross mismanagement of power sector reforms, sale of government assets, dollar subsidy in the name of defending the naira, getting debt relief to borrow new debt instead of plugging the funds into building a new national or regional grid or rapid industrialization and political indiscipline through electoral fraud him and Obasanjo masterminded.

Atiku may need to accept he had his chance and the results are not encouraging.

As for the matter of rotating the presidency, we must understand that unity is a fundamental ingredient that we need as a nation. Many may call for secession. Without seceding, look at how Simon Ekpa encouraged his people to murder his people. If Nigeria secedes, these pockets of violence may be spread into smaller groups as they'd still cry marginalization. For now, let each state invest in internal security. Set up vigilante groups, so that your own people would police their communities. Instead of using the funds to sponsor unproductive Hajj subsidies which add no value to the states, use them to pay those vigilante. By the time people feel safe, secure and can fend for themselves, no one would care so much about who is in Abuja. Until such a time, let the presidency rotate between north and south, but not between north and north or south and south.