Dare Babalola
Bashir El-Rufai has criticised the inability of Nigeria’s major opposition politicians to unite ahead of the 2027 presidential election, saying repeated divisions within their ranks handed victory to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023.
In a post shared on X on Tuesday, El-Rufai said he could not understand why experienced political leaders continued to repeat what he described as the mistakes of the last election by failing to build cohesion and presenting multiple candidates.
“This man only got 8M votes. Waziri 6M. Obi 6M (I think),” he wrote, apparently referring to Tinubu, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former presidential candidate Peter Obi.
“I will never understand how these seasoned politicians are making the same mistakes committed last time due to the lack of cohesion resulting in the splitting of votes,” he added.
In the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged winner after defeating Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Obi of the Labour Party.
The election was widely viewed as one in which opposition votes were divided among multiple strong contenders.
Political analysts have often argued that a united opposition front could have posed a stronger challenge to the APC candidate.
El-Rufai also referred to the African Democratic Congress, suggesting that for a period the party created concern among political opponents because of speculation it could become a platform for a broad opposition coalition.
“For a while, the ADC put the fear of God in their hearts, and that’s because they know what we all know,” he stated.
His comments come amid continued discussions over possible political realignments ahead of the 2027 general election, with several opposition figures exploring alliances to challenge the ruling party.
Recent coalition conversations had linked figures such as Obi, Atiku and former Kano State governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to possible cooperation under alternative platforms, including the ADC. However, no formal agreement has been reached.
Obi and Kwankwaso recently dumped the ADC to join the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
