Nigeria’s opposition will contest the Jan. 16 presidential election on separate tickets, leaving a bid for a joint challenger unrealized as President Bola Tinubu seeks another term.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lists former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi on a rival ticket. NDC vice-presidential candidate Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is Obi’s running mate. Tinubu is the nominee of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kwankwaso said Oct. 18 that the NDC ticket would remain in the race and would not withdraw for the ADC or another party.
The separate candidacies follow an April 25 opposition summit in Ibadan. Parties at the meeting called for one presidential candidate, according to a communiqué published by the ADC. “No single party can do it alone,” ADC National Chairman David Mark said.
INEC’s final list records both ADC and NDC candidates alongside Tinubu. The list shows that the summit’s proposal has not produced a shared opposition ticket.
Past election returns show the scale of support for the separate candidates, though they cannot predict the outcome of a new contest. In 2023, Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes, while Abubakar drew 6,984,520, Obi 6,101,533 and Kwankwaso 1,496,687, INEC reported. The three challengers’ totals add to 14,582,740. Those figures do not show whether their supporters would vote for one candidate in 2027.
The APC’s history offers a precedent for opposition cooperation. The party says it formed in 2013 when opposition groups joined forces. Its candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, defeated then-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. That result does not establish how voters will respond to the current opposition tickets.
INEC has scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for Jan. 16, 2027. Governorship and state assembly elections are set for Feb. 6.
