2027: Sowore Rejects Utomi’s Coalition Talks, Says AAC Won’t Join Opposition Alliance

2027: Sowore Rejects Utomi’s Coalition Talks, Says AAC Won’t Join Opposition Alliance

Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) , has rejected fresh moves by the Movement for Credible Elections (MCE) to unite opposition presidential candidates behind a single candidate for the 2027 election.

In a statement on Thursday morning, Sowore said neither he nor the AAC was participating in the coalition discussions being coordinated by a political commission led by Professor Pat Utomi. He declared that the party would not join the proposed negotiations, insisting that the AAC’s political programme was fundamentally different from that of the established political parties.

“I have read a report … stating that a Political Commission led by Prof. Pat Utomi intends to hold talks with several presidential candidates, including myself, with the objective of producing a single opposition presidential candidate for the 2027 election,” Sowore said. “For the avoidance of doubt, neither I nor the African Action Congress (AAC) is part of these talks, and we will not be joining any such coalition.”

The AAC candidate said the party’s position was based on its ideological orientation, rather than political convenience or negotiations aimed at securing access to power. He argued that the party could not form an alliance with what he described as the political establishment it had consistently opposed.

“Many of the politicians now presenting themselves as an ‘alternative’ have, at different times, operated within the same political order, across the APC, PDP, Labour Party and other formations, that we know has failed Nigerians,” he said.

Sowore further said the AAC’s opposition extended beyond President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to what he described as the wider political system and governance practices that had contributed to Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges.

“Our opposition is not merely to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu or the evil All Progressives Congress party. It is to the political system and governing practices that have produced decades of poverty, corruption, inequality, insecurity and underdevelopment,” he stated.

He said the AAC would instead pursue what he described as a revolutionary break from the existing political order, anchored on social and economic justice, equal rights, accountable government and the redistribution of political and economic power. “We will not abandon that program for an arrangement whose principal objective is simply to replace one set of establishment politicians with another,” Sowore added.

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His rejection comes as the MCE Political Commission, chaired by Utomi, begins consultations with opposition presidential candidates and party leaders ahead of its planned tactical session in Ibadan in a fortnight. The commission is seeking to facilitate an agreement among opposition forces on a single presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

According to MCE Media Coordinator, James Ezema, the commission is expected to hold closed-door meetings with shortlisted candidates and their party leaders before the tactical session. The rationale for the closed-door engagements, the commission said, is to prevent what it described as “sabotage from political mercenaries and jobbers” opposed to the initiative and determined to frustrate the negotiations and horse-trading among the shortlisted presidential candidates. The movement stated that Nigeria cannot afford another opposition arrangement in which political actors agree on the need for a united front but disagree when it becomes necessary to determine the arrowhead and rallying point of that electoral alliance.

Those listed for consultation include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress; Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress; Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party; Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement; Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party; Sandy Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party; Peter Agada of the Young Progressive Party; and Sowore of the AAC. The shortlisted parties include the Social Democratic Party (SDP) , African Democratic Congress (ADC) , Allied Peoples Movement (APM) , National Democratic Congress (NDC) , Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Accord Party, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) , African Action Congress (AAC) and Young Progressive Party (YPP) .

Apart from Professor Utomi, other members of the Political Commission expected to drive the tactical engagements include Hajia Maryam Inna Ciroma, Mrs Modupe Adelaja, Comrade Solomon Dalung, Hon. Uche Onyeagocha, Dr Olusegun Mayegun, Dr Sam Amadi, Mr Mike Igini, Obongawan Barbara Etim James, Veteran Olawale Okunniyi and Dr Adum Ter Alex, among others currently being enlisted for co-option.

MCE said the process would not merely require candidates to withdraw from the race, but would involve the development of agreed rules for selecting and endorsing an eventual candidate. It listed credibility, transparency, fairness, due process and a level playing field among the principles expected to guide the process. The commission emphasised that modalities and terms of endorsement will be agreed by all and not imposed, stating that all shortlisted parties must agree to clear, transparent terms and rules of engagement before the endorsement of the most acceptable presidential candidate.

MCE also said it would consider factors including national acceptability, competence, integrity, leadership profile, policy orientation, commitment to democratic institutions and capacity to unite diverse interests in assessing prospective candidates. The proposed coalition, according to the movement, would also be expected to produce a common governance programme addressing insecurity, unemployment, poverty, economic hardship, electoral reforms, constitutional reform, education, healthcare, energy and the cost of governance.

“The Nigerian people deserve more than a coalition of political personalities. They deserve a coalition of ideas, competence, values and a coherent ideological programme for national salvation,” the MCE said. The movement said its role was not to impose a presidential candidate on any party or aspirant but to facilitate a credible process through which the opposition could arrive at a broadly acceptable political arrangement. It urged all stakeholders to approach the engagement with an open mind and a willingness to place Nigeria’s democratic future above personal desires.

The MCE, however, concluded that every participating presidential candidate and their parties would have to make a prior commitment to respect the outcome of the process and support the adopted presidential candidate of the opposition coalition without equivocation in the 2027 elections.

However, the AAC candidate maintained that his party was pursuing a distinct political path. “The AAC is different. We know what we stand for, and we know the Nigeria we are fighting to build. We are not part of these coalition talks, and we will not be joining them,” he declared.

Sowore’s rejection is consistent with his long-standing position on opposition coalitions. In May 2026, he dismissed coalition talks as gatherings of “interest groups and persons who are interested in power,” arguing that the politicians involved were the same people who brought Nigeria to its current state. In August 2026, at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Sowore publicly disagreed with Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi on the need for an opposition coalition, stating: “I disagree with you that we need an opposition to defeat the incumbent. It is the people, the Nigerian people, that will defeat the incumbent, not their friends who do not want to change the old order.” He also said he would only work with politicians genuinely committed to changing the country, adding: “I will not work with anybody who simply wants to replace the old order with an older, even ricketier order.”

The AAC had previously adopted Sowore as its consensus presidential candidate for the 2027 elections in May 2026, with the party’s Presidential Primary Election Chairman, Kayode Babayemi, stating that the decision showed the party’s trust in Sowore’s “steady leadership and his long-term dedication to fighting for a fair and truly democratic Nigeria.” Upon accepting the nomination, Sowore said the AAC was the “only opposition party” that offers a real choice for Nigerians, emphasising that the party does not have connections to powerful figures or corrupt politicians.

2027: Sowore Rejects Utomi’s Coalition Talks, Says AAC Won’t Join Opposition Alliance