National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, on Monday, vowed that opposition parties will work together and fight to remove the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government from power.
Baba-Ahmed stated this in Abuja while addressing representatives of opposition parties at a G100 opposition summit focused on greater cooperation ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said the opposition parties were not coming together because they were weak, but because they considered defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress necessary for the country.
“We are not here because we are too weak. We are here because we believe the fight to get this government out of power and to put one of us or all of us in power is absolutely imperative in this country,” he said.
The PRP chairman expressed confidence that the opposition could defeat the APC if the parties united, saying no single opposition party could honestly claim it could defeat the ruling party alone.
“No party will be honest enough to tell you that alone it can defeat the APC. None,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed said the six opposition parties represented at the summit were facing what he described as existential threats, including legal battles and alleged attempts to weaken their structures.
“There is no party among the six that is here that is not facing an existential threat. None. We are all in court. There are efforts to cripple us and destroy us, but we will not be destroyed because we represent the Nigerian people,” Baba-Ahmed said.
The PRP chairman urged Nigerians to support the opposition coalition, saying the parties were determined to replace the current administration in 2027.
“Our backs are against the wall, but we will fight back,” he said. “In 2027, we will together remove this government and put the Nigerian nation on a different trajectory.”
Baba-Ahmed also pledged that the opposition would pursue its political objective through lawful and legitimate means.
“We are also committed to using all legal and legitimate means to get rid of this administration,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also criticised President Tinubu’s absence from Nigeria, alleging that the President was abroad while facing questions over allegations concerning his past in the United States.
“We have a president who is out of the country, trying to cover up from Nigerians knowing the truth about what may have happened some years back when he was in America regarding drugs,” he said.
He also noted that Vice-President Kashim Shettima was outside the country, raising questions over the leadership of Nigeria.
“His deputy is in Ethiopia. For the first time, perhaps, in the history of this country, you have a president who is outside the country and a vice-president who is outside the country,” he said.
The allegations concerning Tinubu’s past in the United States have featured in political debates, while U.S. records relating to a 1990s investigation involving the President have also been the subject of litigation and Freedom of Information Act requests.
He subsequently asked, “Who is in charge of the country now?”
