The All Progressives Congress (APC) has claimed that three opposition political parties — the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Accord — are supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's re-election campaign ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, made the claim on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, while speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja after meeting with President Tinubu alongside the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari.
Yilwatda said the ruling party had secured support from political figures and organisations that previously competed against the APC, describing the development as evidence of widening political cooperation ahead of the presidential election.
He maintained that the involvement of politicians from other parties demonstrated growing support for Tinubu's bid to secure another four-year term.
“If you look at what the party is doing now, the opposition parties are with us. All political parties that have defeated us in any election are with us; PDP is with us, APGA is with us, Accord is with us,” Yilwatda said.
The APC chairman identified the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) as an exception among parties he said had previously defeated the ruling party.
He argued that the political cooperation reflected support for the president across traditional party boundaries.
However, Yilwatda did not establish that the recognised national leaderships of all three opposition parties had formally endorsed Tinubu or agreed to abandon their independent political positions.
The distinction is particularly important in the case of the PDP, where competing factions have taken different positions on cooperation with the APC.
Yilwatda's comments followed the inclusion of prominent politicians from outside the ruling party in Tinubu's Presidential Campaign Council, inaugurated on October 14.
Among those appointed were the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Wike, who remains associated with the PDP, was appointed to coordinate Tinubu's campaign activities in Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory.
Soludo, a member of APGA, was assigned responsibility for coordinating the campaign in Anambra State, while Adeleke, who belongs to Accord, was named coordinator for Osun State.
Their participation has become a central feature of the APC's strategy to attract support beyond its traditional membership.
During the campaign council's inauguration, the three politicians publicly expressed support for Tinubu's re-election.
Soludo said APGA's position reflected its commitment to national unity, security and economic development.
The Anambra governor presented the party's support as consistent with those priorities and indicated his willingness to work towards Tinubu's electoral success.
Adeleke also pledged his support for the president, while Wike urged political figures to mobilise voters in favour of the administration.
Their statements provided a basis for the APC's claims of cross-party cooperation, although support from individual officeholders does not necessarily establish a unified position across every structure of their respective parties.
The APGA national chairman, Sly Ezeokenwa, had earlier indicated that the party intended to support Tinubu rather than field a separate presidential candidate.
In Accord, the party's presidential candidate, Christopher Imumolen, announced in August that he was withdrawing from the race and supporting Tinubu.
However, disputes surrounding Accord's presidential nomination have also been reported, illustrating the importance of distinguishing political declarations from the final legal and electoral status of party candidacies.
The PDP's position remains more contentious.
While Wike has publicly supported Tinubu and described himself as a leader of the PDP, a rival faction associated with Tanimu Turaki has rejected cooperation with the ruling party.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the faction's Interim National Working Committee, through its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, maintained that its members would not support Tinubu's re-election.
The faction argued that the role of an opposition party was to provide an alternative to the government rather than participate in the incumbent president's campaign.
It also disputed Wike's claim to represent the party's wider political position.
The disagreement reflects the continuing leadership and organisational disputes within the PDP, which have produced competing claims about the authority to speak for the party.
Consequently, the APC chairman's assertion that the PDP has joined Tinubu's campaign cannot be treated as an uncontested endorsement by the party as a whole.
The broader political arrangement has nevertheless become an important feature of the ruling party's preparations for the 2027 election.
The inclusion of Wike, Soludo and Adeleke in the campaign council provides the APC with prominent political allies in Rivers, Anambra and Osun states.
These figures possess political experience and established relationships within their respective states, although their involvement does not automatically establish how voters in those areas will behave during the election.
The APC has presented the arrangement as a broad-based coalition intended to bring together politicians who support the continuation of Tinubu's administration.
Critics within the opposition have questioned whether such cooperation weakens the distinction between governing and opposition parties.
Others have raised concerns about the implications for political accountability when elected officials campaign for a presidential candidate belonging to a different political party.
Cross-party political cooperation is not, in itself, equivalent to a formal merger or dissolution of the participating parties.
The legal and organisational consequences depend on the decisions taken by the relevant party institutions, the applicable electoral laws and any binding court judgments.
For the APC, the immediate focus is the formal commencement of its nationwide presidential campaign.
Yilwatda confirmed that preparations had been completed for the campaign flag-off scheduled for Saturday, October 24, in Kaduna State.
He said the party's structures, campaign committees and state organisations were ready for the exercise.
The APC chairman explained that his meeting with Tinubu and Yari was intended to brief the president on preparations and confirm the campaign organisation's readiness.
The Presidential Campaign Council had been inaugurated on October 14, with Tinubu serving as chairman, Vice President Kashim Shettima and Yilwatda as vice chairmen, and Yari as director-general.
The council is responsible for coordinating campaign activities, political mobilisation and communication of the administration's record to voters.
Speaking separately after the State House meeting, Yari said the APC intended to conduct an issue-based campaign focused on the achievements of Tinubu's administration.
The former Zamfara State governor pledged that the campaign would avoid personal insults and concentrate on policies, programmes and the government's performance.
He said the ruling party would present its record to Nigerians and ask voters to assess whether the administration deserved another mandate.
Yari maintained that the campaign council would explain what the APC-led Federal Government had accomplished since assuming office in May 2023.
The administration's economic reforms, infrastructure programmes and security policies are expected to feature in its campaign messaging.
However, the government's performance remains the subject of competing political assessments, particularly concerning the cost of living, public security and the effects of economic reforms on households.
Opposition parties have continued to criticise aspects of the administration's record while presenting alternative policy positions.
The political cooperation announced by the APC therefore does not eliminate disagreements over governance or establish consensus among Nigeria's opposition parties.
It instead highlights the changing alliances developing as political organisations and individual officeholders prepare for the presidential election.
The APC's announcement also raises questions about the relationship between individual endorsements and institutional party decisions.
A governor or senior political figure may support a candidate from another party without necessarily securing the agreement of every member or recognised organ of their own party.
This distinction is particularly relevant where leadership disputes or competing factions exist.
For voters, the significance of the announced cooperation will depend on the extent to which the participating political figures and organisations translate their declarations into actual campaign activities.
The ruling party has indicated that it intends to use the Kaduna flag-off to demonstrate its organisational readiness and introduce its campaign message to Nigerians.
The event is expected to bring together party leaders, campaign officials and political allies supporting Tinubu's re-election.
As preparations continue, the positions of the PDP, APGA and Accord will remain subjects of public attention, particularly where competing claims of endorsement or party authority emerge.
While Yilwatda has declared that the three parties are aligned with Tinubu's campaign, the available evidence supports a more qualified account: prominent figures from all three parties are participating in the president's re-election effort, APGA leaders have expressed institutional support, and the PDP remains divided over the issue.
The APC's claim of expanding support is therefore established as a statement made by its national chairman, rather than proof that every faction or member of the named opposition parties has endorsed the president.
With the campaign launch scheduled for October 24, the ruling party is preparing to present its cross-party arrangements as part of its nationwide mobilisation strategy ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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