Salisu Tanko Yakasai, a former Kano governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the 2023 elections, has warned that the growing division in the opposition in Nigeria could replicate the situation that brought President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to power in 2023.
Reacting to the formation of two opposition blocs by Peter Obi and Musa Kwankwaso with the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Yakasai said the two opposition blocs, African Democratic Congress (ADC and NDC) may split votes and eventually favour the ruling party in the 2027 general election.
In a post on X, Yakasai described the development as a “blessing in disguise,” saying that many Nigerians had hoped for a united opposition front, but that a single coalition might have faced legal and political hurdles that could have kept it off the ballot.
He argued that having two opposition platforms might make it difficult to exclude them, pushing the government to either let both parties participate or be faced with a backlash over Nigeria’s democratic credentials.
He said the more likely outcome is that both the ADC and NDC will contest the election, resulting in a divided opposition at the presidential level , a scenario he believes would favour Tinubu.
“In that scenario, the more likely scenario I see happening is that Tinubu allows both parties (ADC and NDC) to contest, leading to a divided opposition going into 2027. If this happens, we may see a repeat of the 2023 pattern at the presidential level (because this will definitely favour Tinubu) while ADC and NDC make significant gains in National Assembly races, particularly across the North and East,” he wrote.
Despite the split, Yakasai reaffirmed his loyalty to the ADC and urged both camps to ease tensions and be open to future cooperation.
“Politics has a way of bringing together strange bedfellows,” he said, adding that they may still need to work together ahead of the 2027 elections.
