Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the 2023 vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has said that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) opposition coalition is made up of politicians with presidential ambitions but lacks a clear strategy to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
Speaking during an interview with Trust TV, Baba-Ahmed noted that while the coalition includes prominent political figures like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir El-Rufai, and David Mark, it lacks the kind of unity and sacrifice that once helped opposition parties unseat a sitting government.
“The coalition is full of options and resources, but it’s also full of ambitions,” he said. “Ambitions must be reduced and managed carefully for the coalition to succeed.”
He compared the current opposition to past efforts by Tinubu and others, who made political sacrifices to build strong platforms that supported candidates like Atiku in 2007 and Buhari in 2015.
According to him, if the opposition continues with “business as usual,” it will not defeat a sitting president like Tinubu. “To achieve the impossible, you need an impossible strategy,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed warned that fielding a familiar candidate like Atiku may not work, as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) already knows how to counter him.
“If you bring Atiku, they know how to work against him. You need a candidate they don’t understand, someone unpredictable. That is how to win an election,” he said.
He also stressed that his comments were not meant to attack the coalition but to offer realistic advice. He urged the ADC to present a candidate who can inspire hope and unity, as Buhari did for the APC in 2015.
The ADC coalition has been in talks to form a strong opposition front ahead of the 2027 general elections, but internal ambitions and lack of clear direction remain a major concern among political observers.
