…as INEC confirms receipt of Atiku-led coalition party’s registration
President Bola Tinubu has described those at the forefront of forming a coalition to unseat him ahead of the 2027 presidential election as persons who have been internally displaced politically.
Tinubu, who spoke at a one-day presidential state visit to Nasarawa, where he inaugurated projects, urged his supporters not to pay attention to his political opponents as they were in a coalition to unseat themselves.
“Just don’t pay them any attention. They are the political IDPs. Don’t give them a home. The hope is here,” he said.
The President, however, commended the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, for bringing development to the state.
He also pledged his administration’s support for the governor to move the state forward.
“Sule is doing well. We will support whatever Governor Sule brings about to work harder for the prosperity and renaissance of Nasarawa State. That is what we stand for.
On his part, Governor Sule appealed to the President to use his good offices to initiate full oil and gas exploration in the Obi Local Government Area of the state, where hydrocarbons were discovered in 2023.
He also thanked Tinubu for his support of the state.
“In 2023, there was an exploration well that was going on in the Obi Local Government Area of the state. There has been a discovery of hydrocarbon in excess of one billion.
“We are asking you, Your Excellency, to ensure that they come back and drill the next exploration well, the appraisal well, and the development package so that we can start producing oil from that site,” he said.
“We are telling you that this is the best for the country. We’ll become another Saudi Arabia if we have a deep onshore operation so that we can have integrated oil and gas facilities similar to what they have in Saudi Arabia so that we can do exploration, production, refining as well as gas and power production and be able to export finished products to other countries,” he added.
Opposition Coalition
Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, opposition leaders, including the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi; and a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, have been reported as being talks to form a coalition aimed at defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress.
While fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today, on May 22, 2025, the spokesman of the former vice president, Paul Ibe, confirmed speculations of a planned coalition to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Well, you and I know that there have been ongoing discussions between Atiku Abubakar and some opposition leaders: Peter Obi, Nasir El-Rufai,” Ibe said on the show.
“Yes, it’s out there in the open. Discussion is still ongoing, and at the end of that discussion, they will come out with a position and the direction that we’re going to follow based on the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.”
However, talks about the coalition gathered momentum last week when a group, the National Opposition Coalition Group (NOCG), comprising major national political figures, including a former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, reportedly went to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register its newly formed political party, All Democratic Alliance (ADA).
The group is chaired by a former Senate President, David Mark.
ADA: We’ve received application for Atiku-led coalition party’s registration — INEC
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that it has received an application for registration from the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), a political party formed from a coalition led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Commission disclosed that it has so far received a total of 110 applications, including that of the Atiku-led coalition party, ADA, from associations seeking registration as political parties.
“INEC Receives 110 Applications for New Political Party Registration: As at Monday, 23rd June 2025, the Commission has received letters of intent from 110 associations that wish to register as political parties. We are diligently processing the requests in line with the procedure outlined in the law as well as our Regulations and Guidelines.
“We have acknowledged all requests received so far except six of them received recently which will be done before the end of the week,” the statement read.
The Commission urged interested groups to consult the official handbook, noting that, “For emphasis, I wish to inform Nigerians, particularly those interested in registering new political parties, that the handbook containing the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022 is already available on the Commission’s website.”
This comes a few days after the coalition of political forces led by Atiku, under the aegis of the Nigeria National Coalition Group (NNCG), formally adopted the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as its platform ahead of the 2027 general election.
Salient Times reports that the coalition, in a letter dated June 19, 2025, formally applied to the Independent INEC for registration of the association as a political party.
The application letter, a copy of which was sighted by Tribune Online, was signed by Chief Akin A. Rickets, who serves as the protem national chairman of the association.
