There are credible reports of an ongoing discussion between the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2023 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his counterparts in Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and New Nigerian People’s Party, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso over a possible merger of their political platforms to rival the ruling All Progressives Congress in the next presidential elections slated for 2027.
As news of this merger talks between the losing candidates in the 2023 presidential election filtered into the public space, the supporters of the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi popularly called Obidients were particularly thrown off balance by the news and many expressed confusion on how Mr. Peter Obi who they felt was a ‘new breed’ politician is mulling over a possible merger with the PDP, one of the old parties they wanted to send to oblivion.
Obidients voiced deep reservations about the potential merger of the Labour Party with the PDP, a party which Mr. Peter Obi had recently described as a party built on the structure of criminality during the last presidential election campaigns. Some of Obi’s supporters believe that if the merger goes ahead, it will pollute their Obidient movement since the new party will be a combination of the PDP, NNPP and the Labour Party.
This merger news has also deflated the hopes of many ardent Obidients who were clinging to the hope of an Obi victory at the Presidential election petition tribunal. They argue that for Mr. Peter Obi to be discussing merger with the PDP and the NNPP when the presidential election petition tribunal has not delivered judgment on his petition shows that he was never serious with the petition.
If reports about the merger talks between Messrs Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively in the last presidential election, are to be believed, then it suggests that apart from planning ahead of a 2027 presidential run on a joint platform, the three parties are said to be working on how to collaborate if the presidential election petition tribunal in their keenly anticipated judgment orders for a re-run of the election.
However, it remains to be seen how these parties will collaborate in the unlikely event that the PEPT overturns the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and orders a fresh election or a run-off between the two top candidates. This is simply because, the window of merger and nomination of candidates as far as the 2023 general elections are concerned is closed.
There are also big skepticism on the part of political observers on the viability of any merger between these parties and if the marriage of convenience between them will survive the test of deciding who will get the ticket of the new party to run for president in 2027.
With Alhaji Atiku Abubakar seriously mobilising for a possible 2027 presidential run and Mr. Peter Obi just getting started in what promises to be a series of presidential runs starting with 2027 as well as Kwankwaso’s ambition, it is hard to see how these gladiators will reach a peaceful compromise on who gets the potential merger party’s ticket.
Lastly, there is also the issue of getting the buy in of the various support base of the three politicians. For example, if Alhaji Atiku Abubakar muscles his way through the new party and emerges as its presidential candidate, it remains to be seen if Mr. Peter Obi’s Obidients will throw their weight behind Atiku and a return of power to the North just four years after the North held power for eight years, even if he choses Obi as a running mate just like in 2019. As the political drama unfolds, the picture will certainly become clearer with time.