Olusegun Ariyo
Former Kano State Governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Ibrahim Shekarau, says only a coalition led by political parties—not individuals—can unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
Shekarau urged opposition parties to work together to strengthen the existing political platform to achieve that goal.
In a statement to journalists, he recalled his past efforts, alongside other political leaders, to form a coalition in 2011 aimed at removing then-President Goodluck Jonathan.
His remarks followed recent discussions about some politicians joining forces under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
Shekarau clarified that he never said it was impossible to defeat the APC, but stressed that for a coalition to succeed, it must be formed by established political parties, not individuals seeking power.
“Some people did not perceive my message correctly. For the sake of clarity, I did not say the coalition could not defeat Tinubu in 2027. What I said was that a coalition of ‘individuals’ rather than parties could not,” he said.
To make his point, Shekarau cited the 2011 attempt by the now-defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to form a coalition.
He explained that the coalition talks in 2011 involved parties with elected governments, legislators, and significant grassroots support.
“I was a principal actor in the 2011 attempted coalition, being a Presidential candidate of the ANPP then. We had several meetings at President Tinubu’s residence in Abuja in 2011.
At a point, (late former President Muhammadu) Buhari, (Nuhu) Ribadu and I, as the Presidential candidates of CPC, ACN and ANPP respectively, met at Buhari’s residence in Abuja to further discuss the coalition in 2011. But it did not work. So, each of us went into the election separately under our respective parties.”
Shekarau said the experience taught valuable lessons to both individuals and parties. This, he noted, led CPC, ACN, and ANPP to try again in 2015.
According to him, the 2015 merger succeeded because party leaders negotiated as representatives of their political parties and not as individual aspirants.
“This time, however, we employed a different approach. We pursued the process, not as individual candidates/aspirants or those who wanted to become this or that, but as representatives of our respective parties.
The three parties each set up a 21-member committee, and I had the privilege of leading the ANPP committee,” he said.
Shekarau revealed that the ACN committee was headed by High Chief Tom Ikimi, while the CPC committee was led by Alhaji Garba Gadi, with all serving and former governors of the three parties included in the teams.
