A former National Vice Chairman (North-west) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has said negotiations on the political party that will serve as a coalition against President Bola Tinubu and the APC in the 2027 elections are ongoing and nearing completion.

Mr Lukman was reacting to a recent comment by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that he and some opposition leaders in the country have formed a coalition to unseat Mr Tinubu in 2027.

During a press conference to react to President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, Atiku, a former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and others, announced a coalition ahead of the 2027 general election.

Apart from condemning the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers, the coalition said its mission included unseating the President and the APC in 2027.

However, there are reports that the coalition faces hurdles due to disagreements among its members over the choice of political party and the zoning of elective positions.

Mr Lukman said negotiations are ongoing, and discussions have not been finalised.

“In order to set the records straight, it is important to state that negotiations are ongoing and nothing has been finalised. Once concluded, a formal announcement will be made with all the details regarding composition of membership, programme of action towards 2027, framework for contesting the 2027 elections, etc,” Mr Lukman said in a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES.

“The speculation, therefore, by some media analysts about disagreements stalemating the coalition negotiation is not true. The consensus among leaders is that the final decision about processes of candidates’ selection can only be handled and determined when there is agreement regarding the political party on whose platform the coalition will field candidates.”

Once the negotiations are concluded, he said Nigerians will be formally informed of all the details, and mobilisation towards 2027 will commence.

Mr Lukman also said consultations are already at advanced stages as the coalition maps out agreement issues among members, including getting them to agree to work together and setting aside personal ambitions to contest the 2027 elections.

“The second issue being negotiated is the political party that will be the platform for the 2027 electoral contest. These two issues are carefully being negotiated.

“While acknowledging that with respect to the requirement for members to set aside personal ambitions, there are strong interests being expressed around issues of zoning by individual leaders, these issues are yet to be formally discussed at any consultation meeting,” he said.

He noted that negotiating with the political party is the most difficult challenge, and many coalition members have been engaged in it for more than a year.

Mr Lukman also said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is frustrating attempts to register new political parties.

He said many groups, including coalition members, have filed for political party registration but that the electoral commission has not confirmed this.

“For reasons best known to INEC, these applications are being frustrated. The only conclusion that can be reached in the circumstance is that INEC has decided that it will not register new parties,” he said.

“To make matters worse, many of the existing registered parties who did not meet the electoral threshold of winning any seat in the last general elections face the threat of deregistration. Given this unpleasant reality, members of the coalition opened negotiations with some of the existing parties that have met the electoral threshold.

“Interestingly, somehow, some of the prospective parties being negotiated are being remotely pushed into crisis mode in the same way PDP, Labour Party and NNPP have been entangled with existential problems. It is almost a clear case of destroying the legal basis for any party to qualify to field candidates for 2027 other than the ruling APC,” Mr Lukman said.