NDC Campaign Chief Urges Atiku, Other Opposition Leaders to Join Obi-Kwankwaso Alliance

The Director-General of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Campaign Council, Ibrahim Abdulkarim, has called on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and other opposition leaders to join the alliance backing Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Abdulkarim said opposition parties and political leaders needed to unite behind a common platform to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming election.

Speaking on Arise News, he said the coalition was already taking shape within the NDC, with Obi emerging as its presidential candidate and Kwankwaso agreeing to work with him.

“The opposition has to come together for us to win. The opposition have already come together. Nobody said the coalition must happen on ADC. It can happen in NDC, and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has already dropped his ambition,” Abdulkarim said.

He maintained that the proposed alliance remained open to other opposition figures, including Atiku, whose participation he said could broaden the coalition’s national reach.

“What we are asking for is for other people to join us, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, to join all of us, so at least we will have the spread that they think they can add,” he added.

The NDC campaign chief also defended the party’s organisational structure against criticism, arguing that its formal structures should not be compared with the Obidient movement and other support groups associated with Obi.

“How can you compare a party with a support group? We don’t have any problem. They’re all part of the NDC party. We have more than a thousand support groups like that,” he said.

On concerns about electoral credibility, Abdulkarim urged Nigerians who fear their votes might not count to support the NDC. He claimed the party had developed a programme designed to help protect votes during the 2027 elections.

He also pledged that the party would conduct peaceful campaigns across the country and reach communities where voters had lost confidence in the electoral process.

“We are going to do our campaign peacefully. We are going to go into every corner,” he said.

Abdulkarim reiterated that the party intended to reassure voters before election day that measures would be in place to safeguard their votes.

“I can promise anybody, anybody that feels he wants his vote to count, we have a very, very unique and serious programme that we have put in place,” he stated.

His remarks highlight ongoing efforts by opposition figures to build a broader political alliance ahead of the 2027 presidential election. However, the supplied report does not establish that Atiku or other opposition leaders have accepted the invitation, or provide details of the NDC’s proposed vote-protection programme.