{"id":156174,"date":"2025-03-22T22:59:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T21:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau"},"modified":"2025-04-04T12:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T11:19:04","slug":"opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau","title":{"rendered":"Opposition coalition has no political structure to challenge APC \u2013 Shekarau"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Kano State Governor and Chairman of the League of Northern Democrats (LND), Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has dismissed the recent coalition of opposition figures, stating that it lacks the necessary political structure to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement issued on Friday, Shekarau described the coalition as an informal gathering of presidential aspirants rather than a well-organized political merger.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that the coalition does not have the backing of the leadership of major opposition parties, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe coming together of some senior members of opposition parties is a welcome development, as seen recently under what they call a \u2018coalition\u2019 of opposition parties. But unfortunately, most people do not realize that this so-called coalition has nothing to do with the major opposition parties; PDP and LP,\u201d Shekarau stated.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, the coalition is being driven by individuals rather than established political structures, making it unlikely to pose a serious threat to the APC\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n<p>He contrasted the current situation with the 2013 merger that led to the formation of the APC, which involved the unification of four registered parties; the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first political merger in Nigeria happened in 2013 when four registered parties merged to form the APC. So, technically, the APC is not a \u2018new party.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It was an alliance of registered opposition political parties that were already well-established, with elected state governors, state and National Assembly members, and significant grassroots support,\u201d Shekarau explained.<\/p>\n<p>Shekarau further argued that the recent passage of the controversial State of Emergency law for Rivers State in the National Assembly exposed the coalition\u2019s lack of influence over opposition lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened at the National Assembly on March 20, 2025, regarding the \u2018State of Emergency\u2019 in Rivers State has exposed the so-called coalition. it is clear they have no control over opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that if the coalition leaders had any real influence, the APC government would not have secured the required votes for the law\u2019s passage.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing from history, Shekarau pointed to the failure of a similar coalition attempt in 2019, which brought together ten political parties against the APC but eventually collapsed due to a lack of inclusiveness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 2019 \u2018coalition\u2019 was formally launched almost a year before the elections at the Yar\u2019Adua Center, yet none of the then-elected PDP leaders was in attendance. No amount of noise-making or informal alliances by individual politicians in the name of opposition will have any impact in elections unless the full leadership structure of opposition parties at all levels is involved,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<p>He also dismissed claims that APC\u2019s strategy of poaching opposition members is solely responsible for the opposition\u2019s weakness, stating that opposition leaders must take responsibility for strengthening their own parties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe simplistic claim that the APC is poaching and destabilizing opposition parties is, to me, nai\u0308ve. Why are the so-called \u2018big names\u2019 in the opposition unable to resist defection? Why don\u2019t they unite to properly fund and build their parties while mobilizing grassroots support?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his criticisms, Shekarau maintained that the opposition still has a chance to reorganize itself before the 2027 elections if it focuses on genuine unity and strategic planning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is still not too late. I believe that with the right vision, mission, and focus, combined with a genuine sense of purpose, the opposition can change its narrative in 2025 and position itself for success in the 2027 elections,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former Kano State Governor and Chairman of the League of Northern Democrats (LND), Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has dismissed the recent coalition of opposition figures, stating that it lacks the necessary political structure to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections. In a statement issued on Friday, Shekarau described [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":156173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,16],"tags":[34,3634,254,65,5578],"class_list":["post-156174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-apc","tag-labour-party","tag-nigeria","tag-pdp","tag-shekarau"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Opposition coalition has no political structure to challenge APC \u2013 Shekarau - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Kano State Governor and Chairman of the League of Northern Democrats (LND), Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has dismissed ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opposition coalition has no political structure to challenge APC \u2013 Shekarau\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Kano State Governor and Chairman of the League of Northern Democrats (LND), Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has dismissed ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-22T21:59:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-04T11:19:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/sm_1742672415.103146.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1247\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1247\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Opposition coalition has no political structure to challenge APC \u2013 Shekarau\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-22T21:59:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-04T11:19:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau\"},\"wordCount\":636,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/sm_1742672415.103146.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"APC\",\"Labour Party\",\"Nigeria\",\"PDP\",\"Shekarau\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/parties\/opposition-coalition-has-no-political-structure-to-challenge-apc-shekarau\",\"name\":\"Opposition coalition has no political structure to challenge APC \u2013 Shekarau - 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