As Nigeria inches toward the 2027 general elections, former presidential adviser Hakeem Baba-Ahmed says the newly formed opposition coalition, the All-Democratic Alliance (ADA), lacks credibility.
Speaking during a televised interview, Baba-Ahmed said the coalition risks repeating the failures of the current ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which it claims to challenge.
He argued that the leaders pushing the ADA are not significantly different from those already in power. “The people who are leading the attempts to create an alternative to APC, I’m not sure that they’re any better than APC itself,” he said.
According to him, the coalition is not building a genuine alternative but is simply creating a platform that may eventually help President Bola Tinubu return in 2027.
Baba-Ahmed stressed that he is not involved in the ADA and views its formation with scepticism.
“I’m just an observer who is watching with a lot of worry that an opportunity to create a strong opposition to the ruling party is being messed up,” he added.
His concern lies in what he describes as a recycled political elite trying to lead the movement rather than supporting new, untainted voices.
Old Faces, Old Problems: A Call for New Leaders
The former adviser said that Nigerians are tired of seeing the same politicians resurface in every election cycle. He questioned the credibility of those who have served as governors, vice presidents, and ministers, suggesting they lack the moral authority to offer lasting solutions to Nigeria’s problems.
“What they need is a generational shift and a political shift away from who they are, what they’ve done, what they want to do,” Baba-Ahmed insisted.
He believes the current approach of top-down coalition building is flawed. In his view, real change will come only when seasoned politicians step back and allow a younger generation with new ideas and public trust to take the lead.
“These are not the people who are saying, give us trust,” he said. “They don’t have faith that you actually represent a future, a different future from this government.”
Challenges Ahead for New Political Movements
Baba-Ahmed also questioned the possibility of forming a new political party in time for the 2027 elections. He pointed out that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not registered any new party in recent years and is currently overwhelmed with applications.
“Unless a miracle happens, they forgot there are huge numbers of applications before INEC, and INEC hasn’t registered any party for a long time,” he said.
Registering a new party, he warned, would be time-consuming and difficult. While he suggested that INEC could register several new parties at once to avoid bias, he admitted that even that approach would not be easy.
In summary, Baba-Ahmed believes that the opposition is running out of time and strategy. Without a serious shift in leadership and ideology, he fears they may hand over 2027 to the very administration they are plotting to unseat.
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