• We are the alternative, ready to change the situation in Nigeria, SDP boasts
• Galadima: el-Rufai is Atiku’s placeholder in SDP if he’s denied PDP ticket
• It’s too early to campaign for 2027, face governance, ACF fumes
• New Southwest group set to emerge
From Seye Olumide (Lagos), John Akubo (Abuja) and Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna)
Amid the disarray plaguing the frontline opposition parties on the road to the 2027 general elections, the new bride in the fold of the opposition, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has boasted that it is ready to change the situation in Nigeria.
According to the SDP, in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Ambassador Rufus Aiyenigba, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has firmed up strategies to strengthen the party’s local and diaspora structures in readiness for the expansion needed for multi-tasking at multiple levels to position it to win the 2027 general elections strongly.
This is as a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has alleged that former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, who made a celebrated defection to the SDP recently from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is a placeholder for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ex-presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the SDP.
Galadima made the revelation during an interview with AIT. Considering his previous attacks on the Vice President, he wondered why Atiku would agree to work with el-Rufai.
Stressing that el-Rufai has no political relevance, Galadima said the intending SDP coalition was ineffective and merely noisemaking. He said: “Did el-Rufai win one local government in Kaduna in 2020? He was a sitting governor in Kaduna when PDP won all three senatorial elections. He was a sitting governor in Kaduna when the PDP won 12 out of 14 House of Reps seats, and they won only one, while the other one was won by the Labour Party. That is, as a sitting governor. Now that he’s out and even fighting the governor from outside, how many votes do you think he can win?
“The SDP coalition is ineffective; their activities are merely noisemaking. el-Rufai is actually serving as a placeholder for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar within the SDP. I am surprised at Atiku’s willingness to work with el-Rufai, who had previously advised Atiku to save his money for his children and declared that Atiku would never become president of Nigeria.”
Projecting his party as the veritable alternative, Galadima said the NNPP would emerge as the larger vehicle to unite opposition parties in the 2027 presidential election.
Neither Atiku nor el-Rufai reacted to Galadima’s claims yesterday. It would be recalled that the duo, alongside some eminent politicians, had announced the birth of a coalition, though without a party named yet for the objective.
But while all propositions point towards the SDP, the party has declared itself the credible alternative for rescuing Nigeria’s democracy and reversing its deepening socio-economic woes as it prepares to go full throttle ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a bold and forward-looking statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Aiyenigba, the SDP announced the outcome of its National Working Committee (NWC) meeting held on April 8, 2025. The meeting, presided over by the National Chairman, Shehu Musa Gabam, affirmed the party’s unwavering commitment to championing a national renaissance built on good governance, social justice, and inclusive development.
Rejecting speculations of political pacts, the party stressed its “no merger, a clean slate” stance, distancing itself from political arrangements that would compromise its ideological integrity. However, it reiterated an open-door policy for all patriotic Nigerians — particularly youth and professionals — eager to contribute to building a better country.
According to the NWC, robust mechanisms are being rolled out to seamlessly integrate old and new members as the party fine-tunes its internal operations to maximise performance across all tiers.
This is as the main opposition party, the PDP, appears to be spiralling into a deeper political crisis, as growing disaffection among its governors and top stakeholders continues to cast uncertainty over its future – barely two years after losing the 2023 presidential election.
Indications have emerged that some governors elected under the PDP platform have distanced themselves from the party’s national leadership, raising serious doubts about the planned National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting expected to be held in May. Stakeholders fear that the lack of cohesion within the party could leave it ill-prepared for the next electoral cycle in 2027.
Sources within the party confirmed that at least five PDP governors are already exploring alliances with either the ruling APC or a new political coalition expected to emerge ahead of the next general elections. This comes against the backdrop of an unrelenting internal crisis widely linked to the influence of the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and his allies within the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC).
The party’s national leadership remains deeply fractured, with a significant portion of NWC members openly opposed to the acting National Chairman, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, over his perceived allegiance to Wike. The political undercurrents have effectively immobilised the party’s top decision-making organ, leaving it unable to respond to major national issues as a credible opposition.
It was, however, gathered that the governors and leaders of the party were locked in a meeting at the Bauchi State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja yesterday. The meeting, which has in attendance former Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki, who flew in from London on Wednesday, is expected to discuss the coalition of opposition parties ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Although former Atiku is not part of the meeting, it was gathered that his men and allies would also be part of it. Sources disclosed that the governors and most party leaders are working together to insist on remaining in the PDP “coalition or no coalition” so that they can present a unified force in the 2027 general elections.
FROM the Southwest flank where President Bola Tinubu comes from, a new coalition for Yoruba interest, Oodua Unity Group, has been launched to advance the course and protect the interest of the Yoruba Nationality in Nigeria.
In a statement yesterday, the Administrative Secretary of the group, Kola Aare, said the coalition’s aims and objectives shall include protecting the life and properties of Yoruba people, protecting and sustaining the culture and traditions of Yoruba people, fostering unity amongst Yoruba sons and daughters globally, engagement and advocacy on socio-economic development, bring Yoruba people under one regional government, promote Yoruba culture and heritage and to ensure socio-political and economic empowerment of leadership of various Oodua groups.
According to Aare, “Recent developments in Nigeria regarding politics, governance and growth have reawakened the Yoruba to the self-determination essence of our struggle for survival and development in the country. This has resulted in the clamour for the same thing – the Yoruba Nation within or outside Nigeria – over time.
“Differences in approach fired internecine struggles for supremacy. This was further exacerbated by interactions with political parties and politicians within the polity in the last 25 years. It was during this period that the 2014 National Conference was held, and resolutions deemed minimalist solutions to the crisis of the Nigerian state were taken but are yet to be implemented.
“Interestingly, the Confab resolution favours the rights of ethnic nationalities, including ethnic minorities to internal self-determination. As the crisis deepens and Nigeria continues to manifest the most palpable symptoms of a failed state, the consciousness of the Yoruba has become re-awakened. The resolve to act has become more virulent, even as it is clear that a common direction is yet to be charted and the various self-determination groups are far from ruminating in concert to act united.”
He added that today, two clear calls, not mutually exclusive, rent the air: “First, is the call for Yoruba nation outside Nigeria; the other is the call for Regionalism. In this circumstance, it has become paramount for Oodua self-determination groups to come together as a pan-Yoruba coalition to aggregate their principles, visions, strategic initiatives and tactical prowess for an organised, united and systematic response to the challenge of the day.
“This is what has led to the formation of this organisation – the Oodua Unity Group (OUG). The group shall be non-partisan and will not prevent its members from involvement in parties of their choice. There must be a clear line of demarcation, and coalition interest supersedes all partisan affiliations.”
However, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has told politicians who are already campaigning for the 2027 general elections to stop, saying it is too early, considering the ranging hunger and socioeconomic hardship in the country that are not yet addressed.
In his remarks at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at its headquarters in Kaduna on Thursday, the ACF chairman, Mamman Mike Osuman SAN, urged political leaders to address the needs of the people ahead of the next general elections rather than to be too committed to an election campaign whose time has not come.
According to the ACF Chairman, “Individual utterances and media exposés relating to the upcoming 2027 elections are already hitting the airwaves. This momentum, in my humble view, should take the back burner. At the same time, emphasis should be earnestly placed on governance that will truly address the biting needs of our people, who are daily subjected to suffering as a result of brigandage, terrorism, kidnapping, mass murders, hunger, and diseases.
“While genuine desires to serve are welcome, concerted efforts that prioritise the safety and well-being of Nigerians should be uppermost in the minds of our leaders, notwithstanding our political allegiance to individual politicians, groups, or ideologies.
“I humbly urge that we, as ACF, should in practical terms manifest and espouse ourselves as beacons of hope for our people by altruistically, openly and courageously preaching truth to power in the manner done by the late Martin Luther King Jr., Indira Gandhi and Nelson Mandela,” Osuman said.
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