Since losing the 2023 presidential election to Tinubu by about two million votes, Atiku has been at the forefront of calls for an opposition coalition, even alleging that the ruling party aims to establish a one-party state.
An analysis of the 2023 election results suggests that if Atiku and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) had combined their votes, they could have defeated Tinubu. Tinubu won with 8,794,726 votes (36.61%), while Atiku secured 6,984,520 (29.07%) and Obi got 6,101,533 (25.40%).
In 2019, when Atiku and Obi were on the PDP ticket together, they secured 11,262,978 votes against then-incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari’s 15,191,847.
While Atiku has pushed for a coalition since 2023, it was the recent defection of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) that reignited discussions. After his defection, El-Rufai called on opposition leaders, including Atiku, Obi, and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), to unite. Kwankwaso finished a distant fourth in the 2023 elections with 1,496,671 votes.
However, Atiku’s ally, former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, dismissed the idea, raising questions about Atiku’s stance.
Obi, meanwhile, had repeatedly stated that he was uninterested in a coalition solely focused on defeating the ruling party. However, his recent visit to Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, where they pledged to collaborate ahead of 2027, pointed to a new direction.
With Atiku, Obi, and El-Rufai now in the coalition, observers are asking: Who will take the lead?
(Daily trust)
