The All Progressives Congress, APC, has reacted to reports that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, are working on floating an alternative platform ahead of 2027.
Naija News reports that there are speculations that Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2023, is considering stepping down for Peter Obi in the 2027 presidential election.
Confirming the move by opposition parties to align in a bid to unseat the APC in the 2027 election, Atiku said he would step down for Peter Obi if he is chosen as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2027 general election.
In an interview with BBC Hausa on Friday, Atiku said he would abide by the decision of party members if they unanimously agreed to zone the PDP’s presidential candidate to the South East.
Atiku added that if the party selects Obi as the presidential candidate in 2027, he will readily offer his support to him.
However, in an interview with Vanguard, Deputy National Organizing Secretary of the APC, Nze Chidi Duru, said the ruling party is unperturbed, stressing that the opposition is necessary for advancing democracy.
According to Duru, the ruling party and Nigeria would be better for such opposition as the APC expects them to be alive to their responsibility of providing alternative views.
He also noted that the APC wishes Atiku and Peter Obi good luck in the planned merger, adding that the ruling party will continue to work harder to attend to the needs of the Nigerians.
He said: “It will be helpful if we have an effective and efficient opposition in the country to help to provide the alternative view. APC and Nigeria would be better for it.
“For me, we will continue to hope that opposition parties will rise to the occasion to give a formidable and constructive engagement to our political party. It is theirs to provide such opposition and it is for us in the APC to continue to take the lead.
“We wish the opposition well. We will continue to work harder to attend to the needs of the Nigerian people. We wish them good luck. We knew that about some months ago. Such a call was made and the Labour Party said they were not in any position to undertake such an unholy engagement.”