(Buba Galadima. Photo Credit: Daily Post Nigeria)
Buba Galadima, a prominent member of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), has called on former vice president Atiku Abubakar to join the party, threatening to hold him accountable if opposition forces do not band together before the general elections in 2027.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Galadima issued the statement, claiming that important opposition personalities were already uniting under the NDC to build a powerful coalition against the ruling All Progressives Congress.
“The truth is that Peter Obi and Kwankwaso migrated into the ADC; they brought unity of opposition to unseat Tinubu,” he stated. Regretfully, there are rumors that Tinubu, the administration, and the APC exploited the legal system to remove the opposition.
“For this reason, I’m calling on former vice president Atiku Abubakar to follow us into the ADC, just like we did, so that there can be a united opposition to overthrow this government. If he refuses, Atiku will be held accountable.
Galadima cautioned that the former vice president would be held accountable if the coalition was unable to accomplish its goal and that refusing to join the NDC could jeopardize attempts to bring opposition forces together.
“In actuality, all of the political gladiators are now in the NDC. If someone is outside, such as Kwankwaso, who was outside and convinced to join the ADC, we are also begging Atiku to join the NDC so that we can reunite and overthrow the current administration.
“He has agreed to forfeit his right to run in the 2027 election if he refuses to do that, or else he has scuttled the unity of the opposition to unseat this government because he cannot continue to be in the ADC.”
Galadima’s remarks follow the admission of prominent opposition figures to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), including Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) 2023 presidential candidate, and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the New Nigeria Peoples Party’s (NNPP) presidential candidate.
According to Vanguard, the two reached the decision last Sunday while meeting with party leaders at the home of Senator Seriake Dickson, the National Leader of the NDC.
On Monday, Atiku’s supporters and the ADC refuted rumors that the former vice president had defected to the NDC.
Paul Ibe, Atiku’s media adviser, responded to the accusations by telling Vanguard that Rauf Aregbesola, the former vice president and governor of Osun State, had not participated in any such discussions.
“If that is the case, I will be the first to know. When confronted, Ibe stated, “I don’t think that there is anything like that.”
