The response of presidential advisor Sunday Dare to the recent opposition coalition meeting in Ibadan has come under fire from Salihu Lukman, the former APC National Vice Chairman (North-West). Lukman claimed that Dare was “deceiving himself” by ignoring the meeting.
At a summit in Ibadan on April 25, 2026, opposition leaders from various parties came together under the “Ibadan Declaration,” which they used to agree on a single presidential candidate to run against the All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general election.
Speaking during a televised interview on Arise TV, on Monday 27 April, 2026, Sunday Dare allegedly characterised the coalition as an assembly of “failed politicians” and people lacking serious political organization and direction in response to the conference.
However, Lukman rejected that stance in a televised appearance, stating that the opposition alliance consisted of legitimate political players in Nigeria striving for a more organised alternative.
“If he fails to recognize that, he’s just deceiving himself,” Lukman said.
The coalition, he said, was not an ad hoc political formation but rather an effort to combat what he saw as the increasing political imbalance in Nigeria and the danger of a one-party dictatorship.
He claims that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and other opposition groups at the Ibadan summit are collaborating on a plan to choose a candidate for 2027 by consensus.
Lukman further by saying that the alliance’s objective is to institute a “collegiate system” of decision-making in order to reorganise the selection of political leaders, rather than only to challenge the current ruling party.
Instead of a system where one political person dominates, he stressed that the opposition wants a more inclusive type of government.
The ex-APC leader continued by saying that ignoring the coalition would be a missed opportunity to address Nigeria’s larger political realities, and that competition and different viewpoints are essential to the country’s democracy…See More
Leave a Reply