The leader of the Alliance for Good Governance, Usman Haruna, on Sunday warned that the growing divisions within Nigeria’s opposition coalition could hand victory to the ruling All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Haruna said the group had reviewed its earlier declaration to fully support the opposition coalition movement following recent political developments and defections by key political actors.
Speaking during a media interaction in Gombe, Haruna said the alliance would, within the next 14 days, amend its earlier position on giving “total and holistic support” to the coalition.
“We have come back together as a family, and we have reviewed our decision and withdrawn the earlier declaration of a total and holistic support,” he said.
However, he clarified that the group had not completely abandoned the coalition.
“We are not saying that we are not going to support the coalition as a whole, but we are going to make an amendment in the next 14 days to our earlier declaration,” he added.
According to him, the alliance decided to delay taking a final position until after the party primaries produce substantive candidates.
“We are not candidates. We are not aspirants as of today. Maybe some of us are aspiring for different positions, but until after the primaries, we won’t know who is a substantive candidate for this position or that position,” he said.
Haruna, who further noted that recent defections and political realignments within the opposition camp had weakened the coalition’s unity, emphasised that “The coalition is no longer intact as it was before. There is division now in the coalition. Some of the strong leaders of the coalition have defected to NDC.”
He also pointed to developments in Gombe State, where major governorship hopefuls have reportedly aligned with different political parties.
“Here in Gombe State, we have seen key players and some strong gubernatorial candidates declaring themselves in another political party,” he said.
The opposition figure warned that disunity among opposition politicians would make it difficult to unseat incumbents in 2027.
“The united purpose as an opposition should be how do we substitute the people in power with our own members in the opposition. But the bottom line is that if we are divided, there is no way to defeat the incumbent,” Haruna said.
“This division actually is a very bad signal for the opposition in Nigeria.”
The leader of the Alliance for Good Governance disclosed that the alliance would assess candidates and political parties based on competence, public service records, and their contributions to societal development before endorsing anyone.
“We recognise them. We will look at their background and see how far they have gone in dealing with the public and what their contributions are in relation to the people’s demands,” he explained.
Reacting to the alliance involving Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso in the National Democratic Coalition, Haruna described the development as a setback for opposition politics.
“Well, actually, it’s a serious setback to the opposition in Nigeria,” he said, even as he maintained,
“When you put Kwankwaso and Obi in NDC, and you put Atiku and maybe Amaechi or any other person in ADC, while Tinubu remains in APC, it is like status quo ante 2023. Opposition votes are divided while the incumbent retains its own votes.”
As a result, he warned that if the current trend continues, the 2027 election may mirror the outcome of the 2023 presidential contest.
“Analytically, we are seeing ourselves in a status quo ante 2023 as far as the 2027 election is concerned, if it continues like this,” Haruna added.
