The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed concerns over a potential alliance between the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Labour Party’s Peter Obi ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
According to the APC, the alliance is not a threat to its dominance.
Speaking in an interview with Punch on Monday, APC’s National Publicity Director, Bala Ibrahim, confidently stated that the proposed alliance would likely fail, just as it did prior to the 2023 presidential election.
He cited a lack of trust between Obi and Kwankwaso as a significant barrier, stressing that neither politician would be willing to step down in their pursuit of the presidency.
His comments come in response to reports that Kwankwaso recently expressed openness to being Obi’s running mate in the 2027 elections, though he attached certain undisclosed conditions. This move has sparked discussions about a possible merger between the NNPP and Labour Party.
Labour Party’s National Secretary, Umar Farouk, welcomed the idea, stating that a collaboration between the two political figures could succeed if Kwankwaso were willing to put aside his ego and work with Obi.
However, the APC remains confident that any such alliance would not pose a serious challenge to President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.
Ibrahim said, “The underlying and most important factor in that permutation is the word trust, which will be the bane of their agreement. These are experiments that have been conducted several times, and the results cannot be expected to change unless the factor responsible for that result changes. If you don’t change the factor and you carry out the same experiment under the same condition, expecting a different result, you are only deceiving yourself. This is a scientific procedure.
“Now, Kwankwaso and Peter Obi have tried forming an alliance in the past on several occasions, but their romance didn’t last beyond the bedroom. This is because they are strange bedfellows who can’t sleep in the same room. Both of them have one ambition—to lead the country at all costs—and neither is willing to surrender the seat to the other simply because there is this superiority complex between them.
“As long as that complex exists, and it is not likely to diminish, there is not going to be any change to warrant the APC having sleepless nights. What they are proposing now is just rhetoric because they are seeing the progress the APC is making and the changes happening in the political scene. They know that come 2027, the victory of the APC is fait accompli. All they are making is just noise to survive. It is also the ranting of a party destined for doom. So, there is nothing there to give the APC any worry at all. It is a merger that won’t come to pass.”
However, the National Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party , Abdullahi Ibrahim, described the proposed Obi-Kwankwaso alliance as a welcome development.
Ibrahim told Punch that the PDP would support any talks on an alliance or merger that would liberate Nigerians from the current hardship and the grip of the APC-led government.
He said, “It is a welcome development. We were the ones who started the discussion at the instance of the PDP, when the major opposition figures met to review the state of the nation. If there is anything we expect from the opposition going forward, it is for them to close ranks and ensure they chart a common cause, whether it is the Peter Obi-led Labour Party, Kwankwaso’s NNPP, or the PDP that is prepared to lead the direction.
“At least, we are the major opposition and have been in power before at the center for 16 years. Presently, we have 13 governors including the FCT (under Nyesom Wike), making it 14. As of the last count, Wike has still not declared his intention to leave the PDP. So, on account of these things, we are still the major opposition party in the country and for that reason, we are charting the course.
“As earlier said, it is commendable regardless of the fact that it is not our political party. It is in the interest of this country for those who have the wherewithal to ensure they salvage the people from despair and despondency, which seem to have taken over the land. Of course, Nigerians no longer want these people in power and can’t wait to see the back of the APC because of the insensitivity that characterizes their way of doing things.”