No crack in coalition movement, negotiation ongoing – Lukman
By Tunde Opalana
There is no major disagreement among politicians championing a coalition of opposition against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
One of the gladiators and former national vice chairman of APC in the North West, Dr. Salihu Lukman who made the clarification said there is no crack in the opposition.
He said the delay in making an official announcement on the platform to be adopted by the coalition to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the APC in 2027 is nothing to worry about as consultations are ongoing.
The former Director General, Progressives Governors Forum of the ruling APC in a statement on Monday denied speculations in the media space of disagreements stalemating negotiations among coalition leaders.
According to him, issues of prospective candidates does not arise when talks are ongoing on which political party to be adopted to field candidates in 2027.
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He, however, assured that a stronger consensus will be built to address those concerns.
Lukman said: “In order to set the records straight, it is important to state that negotiations are ongoing and nothing has been finalised.
“Once concluded formal announcement will be made with all the details regarding composition of membership, programme of action towards 2027, framework for contesting the 2027 elections, etc.
“Consultations are in advanced stages, basically reaching out to prospective members of the coalition, mapping out issues for agreements among members of the coalition.
“At this stage of negotiations, the main focus is around getting leaders to agree to work together and substantially there is strong recognition that prospective members should set aside personal ambitions to contest the 2027 elections.
“The second issue being negotiated is the political party that will be the platform for the 2027 electoral contest.
“These two issues are carefully being negotiated. While acknowledging that with respect to the requirement for members to set aside personal ambitions, there are strong interests being expressed around issues of zoning by individual leaders, these issues are yet to be formally discussed at any consultation meeting.”
Gladiators in the coalition include: the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi; former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal.
Aggrieved APC members notable in the coalition include, a former Governor of Nasarawa State and former National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu; former Rivers State governor,Rotimi Amaechi; and former governor of Ekiti State, Dr.Kayode Fayemi.
