A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Farouk Aliyu, has advised opposition parties to unite behind a single presidential candidate if they hope to challenge the APC in the 2027 elections, citing the strategy the party used to defeat former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
Speaking in an interview on ARISE News on Monday while reacting to divisions within opposition parties ahead of the next general election, Aliyu said,
“If they really want to contest or, I mean, if they want to give us opposition, real opposition, they should forget about their differences,” he said.
“I’m giving free counselling now. Forget about differences. Let them rally around one person, all of them, then beat us head on.”
Aliyu said the APC succeeded in 2015 because party leaders united behind one candidate despite internal disagreements.
“That’s exactly what we did when we defeated Jonathan. Not everybody wanted Buhari, but in the wisdom of the leaders, they said let’s put Buhari forward,” he said.
He added that opposition parties would only become competitive if they adopted a similar approach ahead of the 2027 polls.
“So probably if they decide on Jonathan, Atiku or anybody, if all of them come together and one person amongst them, then that’s when they can challenge us,” he said.
Aliyu also dismissed suggestions that the APC was responsible for the internal problems facing opposition parties.
“What is the fault of APC? Nothing. It’s none of our business. If they cannot come together in the interest of this country, come together and oppose us, so that they could defeat us,” he said.
“Because at the end of the day, Nigerians will still decide whether it is Tinubu or anybody else. But nobody should blame us, the APC, for the misfortune of these other parties.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
Follow us on:
