…meet, strategise in Abuja
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, some prominent opposition politicians in Nigeria, including a former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and former presidential candidate, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, on Tuesday, held a meeting with the leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Abuja to strategise ahead of the polls.
It was learnt that the main objective of the meeting was to forge a united front to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress from the Presidency in the 2027 elections.
The meeting is however coming 48 hours after El-Rufai had denied the claim in some quarters that he was planning to dump the ruling APC for an opposition party.
The former Kaduna governor in a post on his X handle on Sunday asked Nigerians to disregard the claim.
His post read, “Please, disregard the patent lies and rumours about my political affiliation. I have referred the lead peddlers of the fake news for further action by my lawyers.”
But chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, APC and the SDP featured prominently in the Tuesday strategic meeting.
Recall that lately, leaders of opposition parties have been consulting as part of efforts to either form a merger ahead of the 2027 election or a coalition against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Mallam Shekarau-led League of Northern Democrats, last weekend, disclosed plans to transform to a political party ahead of the 2027 polls.
A chieftain of the PDP from Ogun State, who is also an ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Segun Showunmi, said in a Facebook post that the meeting was strategic.
Showunmi said the meeting hosted by the National Chairman of the SDP, Shehu Gabam, was attended by former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai; former presidential candidate, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, himself and others.
He added that the meeting held to review “The state of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria” with a view to planning a stronger opposition front in Nigeria as the 2027 general elections approach.
