Adams Oshiomhole has said alleged internal divisions among opposition leaders will make it easier for the ruling All Progressives Congress to retain power in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, May 13, the former Edo State governor claimed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has become the APC’s “best campaign manager” because of his alleged attacks on fellow opposition figure Peter Obi.
According to Oshiomhole, Obi and former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi have also been criticising one another, a development he believes will ultimately favour the APC.
“You mean that APC would be worried about which of the parties now… ADC? I saw Atiku. Atiku is now our best campaign manager because he is attacking Obi, and I see Obi attacking Amaechi,” Oshiomhole said. “I see Amaechi say Obi is a regional player, Atiku is a regional player, and he is the only national player, but he didn’t tell us what his ward unit looks like,” he added.
The senator expressed confidence that opposition parties would be defeated in 2027 regardless of any coalition plans. He challenged opposition leaders to explain which of President Bola Tinubu’s policies they would reverse if elected.
“They have to speak to the new policies that they would reverse, whether they would reverse taxation, reverse fuel subsidy removal, student loans, or reverse any of those bold decisions that President Tinubu has taken,” he said. Oshiomhole further accused opposition figures of being united only by their desire for political power, while insisting Tinubu had taken difficult but necessary decisions to reform Nigeria’s economy.
Nigeria’s political atmosphere has continued to intensify ahead of the 2027 elections, with opposition leaders positioning themselves against the APC.
Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Rotimi Amaechi are among the key figures expected to shape the political contest ahead of the polls. The opposition leaders had initially planned to work together under the African Democratic Congress to strengthen their chances against the APC.
However, Obi and Kwankwaso later defected to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, citing ongoing legal disputes surrounding the ADC. Atiku and Amaechi remain in the ADC, though it remains unclear who the party will eventually present as its presidential candidate.
Meanwhile, the APC has waived the screening requirement for President Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections. According to APC spokesman Felix Morka, the party’s National Working Committee reached the decision during its 188th meeting on Wednesday, deeming Tinubu “duly screened” for participation in the party’s upcoming primaries.