President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has stated that a possible political alliance or merger between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi poses no threat to President Tinubu’s re-election prospects in 2027.
Speaking during an appearance on Arise Television’s *Prime Time* programme on Thursday, Onanuga dismissed the recent discussions about opposition party coalitions as premature and politically ineffective.
According to him, the current political maneuvers by opposition figures appear to be mistimed, noting that unlike the structured and strategic merger that gave birth to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, the recent talks of alliance lack coordination and focus.
“They are jumping the gun, it’s not yet time for politicking as they are doing,” Onanuga said.
“We didn’t go the way they are going about it, the alliance or merger we had in 2013 was not like these people are making it look. It didn’t give much distraction to the government in power but the way they are doing it is as if INEC has blown the whistle for party politics to start but it’s not so.”
He acknowledged the right of political actors to associate freely in a democracy but insisted that the ruling APC does not view the Atiku-Obi collaboration as a serious political threat.
“They are free because this is a free country and people can come together to form all kinds of alliances,” he said.
“But as far as the APC is concerned, we are not seeing the coalition as any threat. Even if you merge Peter Obi and Atiku together, there is no way the two of them can beat a Bola Tinubu and Shettima ticket; it is not going to be possible,” Onanuga asserted.
The statement comes amid growing speculation of a potential opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
