Opposition parties hoping to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election face the challenge of building a strong political coalition after starting discussions on a common candidate too late, Comrade Mark Adebayo, a communications adviser to the Adebayo-Bugaje Presidential Campaign, has said.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Adebayo argued that opposition parties should have begun preparing the political structures needed for a united campaign at least three years before the election.
He said agreeing on a single presidential candidate would not be enough without the political organisation and grassroots mobilisation required to support such an arrangement.
“The conversations around different political parties coming together to support a single presidential ticket came too late in the day, in my opinion. That’s a conversation that should have begun at least three years ago by building critical political infrastructures to achieve that.
“You can’t start such a crucial process on the eve of a general election,” Adebayo added.
The campaign adviser also identified ideological differences among opposition parties and their candidates as another challenge that could complicate efforts to present a united front against the incumbent president.
According to him, the opposition parties appeared to have recognised the difficulties associated with forming a common platform too late in the political process.
“I think the opposition woke up to that realization too late,” Adebayo said. “Meanwhile, whilst I agree it is extremely challenging, it is not impossible for one presidential candidate to defeat the incumbent.”
Despite the challenges, Adebayo maintained that an opposition candidate could defeat Tinubu in 2027 through a coordinated strategy and widespread mobilisation of Nigerians.
He expressed confidence in Prince Adewole Adebayo’s ambition, saying the presidential candidate was working towards building a broad-based movement against the current system of governance.
“With the application of the appropriate strategies predicated on massive mobilization of Nigerians around a movement to end this ‘corrupt’ and ‘satanic’ system that is killing our country, it is possible for an opposition candidate to defeat Tinubu next year and Prince Adewole Adebayo is working so hard to achieve that,” he said.
