The vow of leading opposition leaders, on Saturday, to present a joint presidential candidate against President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2027 caused a stir in the polity, yesterday.

Frontline opposition leaders and presidential aspirants in the coalition-backed African Democratic Congress, ADC, and a faction of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, held a summit with Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde on Ibadan, where they, among others, vowed to support a candidate to stop Tinubu next year.

Opposition leaders at the summit included former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi; former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi; former Osun State Governor and factional ADC National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; factional ADC National Chairman, Senator David Mark; and factional PDP National Chairman, Tanimu Turaki; and other parties seeking to forge a united front ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The vow elicited a quantum of mixed reactions, yesterday with some opposition parties and stakeholders divided.

This was as Wike the APC said the opposition was not a threat to President Tinubu and FCT Minister, Nyesom and his Aviation counterpart, Festus Keyamo dismissing the move as dead on arrival.

APC condemns Makinde’s comment

While downplaying the threat of the opposition,the APC condemned Governor Makinde over comments made at Saturday’s opposition summit in Ibadan, accusing him of invoking the violent legacy of “Operation Wetie” to incite unrest.

The party also dismissed the opposition gathering as a “coalition of confusion” with no credible threat ahead of the 2027 elections.

Makinde, while addressing the summit, reportedly referenced Operation Wetie – a notorious campaign of political violence in the old Western Region during Nigeria’s First Republic, marked by the burning of opponents.

Reacting in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said: “The APC categorically condemns Governor Makinde’s incitement as reckless, and a clear and present threat to peace and national security.

“It is particularly disturbing for a sitting governor who bears constitutional responsibility as the Chief Security Officer of his state to conjure up one of the darkest episodes of political violence in Nigeria’s history to threaten violence against the people and government of Nigeria.”

The party said Makinde’s remarks stripped him of the moral authority expected of his office. “By his incitement to violence, Makinde has showed himself to be unworthy of the high office of Governor that he occupies,” Morka added.

APC called on security and intelligence agencies to act swiftly. “Makinde’s violent rhetoric cannot be dismissed as mere opposition posturing. His statement risks fueling anarchy, murderous rage and widespread lawlessness capable of undermining national stability,” the statement read, stressing that “constitutional immunity from prosecution is not immunity from accountability.”

The party also took aim at opposition parties present at the summit – the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party, LP, and African Democratic Congress, ADC.

On the PDP, Morka said: “The Peoples Democratic Party was destroyed by Atiku Abubakar’s ruthless confiscation of the PDP’s 2023 presidential ticket in violation of the party’s constitutionally entrenched rotational zoning formula.”

On the Labour Party he said: “The Labour Party was effectively subverted by the restless nomadic disposition of its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi.”

Describing the ADC, he said: “The African Democratic Congress… was basically stillborn, strangled by the reckless robbery of that party’s leadership by the same band of marauding opposition figures.”

It’s dead on arrival —Wike, Keyamo, Sowore

Summit. In all these, it is Oyo State treasury that is suffering from Governor Seyi Makinde’s desperation to be vice presidential candidate of any political party.”

Keyamo faults proposed merger

On his part, Keyamo questioned the operational logic of any proposed merger of opposition candidates, arguing it would upend the parties’ own candidates further down the ballot.

“They are a confused lot. Team up under which banner? What happens to the candidates for other offices on both sides who will be on the ballot same day? Will they be campaigning against themselves and then campaign together for one presidential candidate?

“Or are they prepared to throw them under the bus now as a result of their blind ambition? For instance, all the other ADC and PDP candidates already warming up for various offices, you think you will drop some of them this last minute in the name of some kind of confused arrangement with some other party and they will still remain loyal to you?” Keyamo said.

The minister drew a distinction between rhetoric and political organisation, adding that “the problem with these characters is that they think this whole thing is about sermonising, not organising.

“In 2011, the CPC and ACN tried to do something like this at the last minute, but it ended in fiasco. So, these characters are in for a long night and a rude shock on the road to 2027.”

We’re not part of it — Sowore

Also speaking, Sowore, convener of African Action Congress, AAC, revealed that he was invited to the summit but chose to stay away.

“I was invited to attend the so-called ‘Opposition Summit’ in Ibadan, but I declined,” he said, making clear the decision was one of principle.

He argued that the conveners had no credible claim to the mantle of opposition.

He said: “There is no need to pretend that the same men, and a few women, who held Nigeria to ransom for years, presiding over stagnation, corruption, and systemic decay, can suddenly reinvent themselves as champions of progress or defenders of the people. Not all Nigerians are suffering from amnesia.”

He ruled out any future alignment with the grouping, saying “our revolutionary party, the African Action Congress, will not be part of any charade designed to recycle failed political actors under the guise of ‘opposition.’’

It’s a historic realignment of purpose —NNPP

Speaking on the initiative, the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, described it as a historic realignment of purpose.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Ladipo Johnson, in a chat with Vanguard, said the party aligned with the “unified movement.”

His words: “The New Nigeria People’s Party stands at the forefront of a historic realignment of purpose. Today, the vision of a rejuvenated Nigeria has brought the opposition together with a singular, unwavering focus.

”We are no longer just individual parties; we are a unified movement representing the collective will of Nigerians, who are tired of the status quo. This alignment is built on a foundation of shared values and a commitment to rescue our nation from the current economic hardships, proving that together, we possess the overwhelming mandate required to defeat the APC in the next general election.

“While we remain ready for a decisive victory, we are acutely aware of the systemic hurdles being erected to frustrate the democratic process.”

They must have a vision to uplift Nigeria