As Nigeria inches toward the 2027 general elections, President Bola Tinubu is facing growing resistance from within his own political family.

This is just as key allies of former President Muhammadu Buhari, once united under the All Progressives Congress, APC, banner, are now aligning with opposition forces to stop Tinubu’s second-term ambition, OSUNDAILY NG has observed.

What started as quiet disagreements among key figures in the APC has now grown into open resistance, driven by some of the most trusted allies of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Prominent figures like ex-Kaduna governor, Nasir El-Rufai, former SGF, Babachir Lawal, as well as former ministers also in Buhari’s cabinet, Rotimi Amaechi, and Abubakar Malami, once pillars of the APC, are now rallying around a new opposition alliance, raising fresh questions about unity in the ruling party. A former National Chairman of the APC, John Odigie-Oyegun is also not left out.

This emerging coalition recently found a new political vehicle in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which has controversially adopted former Senate President David Mark as interim national chairman and ex-Governor Rauf Aregbesola as secretary.

The cracks within the APC are not new. Tinubu, who played a pivotal role in Buhari’s ascension to the presidency in 2015, now finds himself increasingly isolated from those he once helped empower.

The APC was formed in 2013 as a coalition of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Buhari’s CPC, and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

The union, though strategic, was always fragile. Buhari’s successful 2015 run, his fourth presidential attempt, was largely credited to Tinubu’s political machinery in the South-West and key alliances with northern heavyweights like El-Rufai and Amaechi in the South.

By 2023, however, the tide had turned. Tinubu, who described his presidential bid as a “lifelong ambition,” clinched the APC ticket against fierce opposition within the party.

He triumphed in a general election marred by currency redesign chaos, the controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket, and questions about his health and coherence on the campaign trail.

Significantly, he lost in all three ‘K states’: Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina, long considered strongholds of Buhari’s northern base, but still clinched the presidential seat.

The relationship between Tinubu and Nasir El-Rufai was always politically transactional.

After initially being nominated for a ministerial role in Tinubu’s cabinet, El-Rufai was dropped following a security report. Their fallout was swift and bitter.

“Forgive me for bringing this evil Tinubu to power in 2023. It won’t happen again in 2027. The guy is gone,” El-Rufai reportedly told a group of supporters in May, a quote that went viral on social media and emboldened anti-Tinubu elements in the North.

El-Rufai, a former FCT Minister and a strong critic of Asiwaju, has since defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he is reportedly helping midwife the broader coalition that includes elements from the ADC, PDP, SDP, and disenfranchised APC members.

Yet, while the coalition appears formidable on paper, with political veterans like Atiku Abubakar, Sule Lamido, David Mark, Tambuwal, Amaechi, and Babachir Lawal on board, questions remain about its cohesion and ideological clarity.

Even Dumebi Kachikwu, the ADC’s 2023 presidential candidate, has dismissed the coalition’s move as illegitimate, noting that they are working with a defunct leadership of the party.

“The coalition is dealing with people whose tenure expired in 2022. We are watching with amusement,” Kachikwu said in a statement.

Despite the opposition, Tinubu is no political novice. Dubbed the “master strategist” for his role in shaping the APC and delivering Lagos to the opposition in 1999, he has weathered countless political storms.

A senior aide to Tinubu, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the president is “unfazed” by the coalition and is already reconfiguring his alliances.

“Remember 2023? They said he wouldn’t survive the Muslim-Muslim backlash. They said he wouldn’t win the APC ticket. He did both. Don’t write him off,” the aide said.

Tinubu is also reportedly in talks with key northern traditional and political power blocs to rebuild trust, particularly in states he lost during the last cycle.

Also, there are claims in some quarters that Tinubu may likely drop his vice, Shettima, and settle for Rabiu Kwankwaso from Kano State.

With the PDP fractured and the APC facing a mutiny from within, 2027 could reshape Nigeria’s political order yet again. But for now, both camps are playing the long game.

Meanwhile, some loyalists of former President Muhammadu Buhari, under the aegis of the Forum of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), recently declared support for President Bola Tinubu.

Those who met in Abuja on Thursday and declared support for the president included the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr. Tajudeen Abbas (who sent in his apologies); Katsina State Governor, Dr. Dikko Radda; Niger State Governor, Umar Bago (who also sent in his apologies); Foreign Affairs Minister, Maitama Tuggar; former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura; former Katsina State Governor and ex-House Speaker, Aminu Bello Masari; and Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), General Buba Marwa (retd).

They said that while individuals have a right to pursue their political ambitions elsewhere, they do not have to do so under the cloak of “defunct CPC members.”

Answering a question about whether the bloc would still support Tinubu, one of the leaders, Hon. Farouk Adamu, expressed optimism that the president would be its candidate even in 2027.

“We are with Tinubu just like our leader (Buhari), and secondly, it is our conviction that Tinubu will continue to be our candidate in 2027,” he said.

The anti-Tinubu coalition believes it can recreate the 2015 miracle, when disparate opposition forces united to unseat a sitting president.

But Tinubu, whose political playbook remains unpredictable, might just have a few surprises left.

And in Nigerian politics, underestimating a master tactician often comes at a high cost.

List of Buhari’s loyalists, associates in ADC

Rotimi Amaechi

Abubakar Malami

Hadi Sirika – Buhari’s nephew

Rauf Aregbesola

Kashim Imam

Chief John Odigie Oyegun