A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Osita Okechukwu, has alleged that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has inadvertently handed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu an early advantage in the 2027 presidential election by fracturing the opposition coalition through what he described as an unyielding pursuit of the presidency.

Okechukwu made the assertion on Monday while reacting to Atiku’s recent appeal for opposition political parties to harmonise their strengths ahead of the 2027 general election, insisting that such a move has become impossible because “the horse has already bolted.”

According to him, Atiku’s call for opposition unity came too late, as the coalition built around the African Democratic Congress (ADC) had already suffered irreparable damage following disagreements over the presidency and the long-standing convention of rotating power between Nigeria’s North and South.

He argued that what many Nigerians initially hailed as a formidable coalition capable of challenging the ruling APC had gradually collapsed after becoming, in his words, a “special purpose vehicle” driven by personal ambition rather than collective national interest.

Okechukwu maintained that although President Tinubu’s administration has attracted criticism over some of its policies and economic reforms, the opposition’s greatest setback was self-inflicted.

“The principal factor behind the coalition’s present conundrum was Atiku’s determination to pursue the presidency despite widespread concerns over the zoning and rotation convention,” he said.

He dismissed suggestions that President Tinubu was responsible for the opposition’s internal crisis, arguing instead that the President merely became the political beneficiary of divisions within rival parties.

According to Okechukwu, political alliances cannot endure solely on opposition to an incumbent government but must be built on trust, shared values, statesmanship and respect for established democratic conventions.

He recalled that Atiku had only months ago expressed confidence that a united opposition would defeat Tinubu in 2027, boasting that the coalition possessed enough political heavyweights to make the President “dead on arrival.”

However, Okechukwu said recent events have exposed the fragility of that confidence, insisting that key opposition figures have now charted separate political paths, making any last-minute harmonisation unrealistic.

The APC chieftain also criticised the timing of Atiku’s latest remarks, noting that they came when many opposition politicians and civil society groups were expressing concern over a Federal High Court ruling in Lokoja relating to the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

Rather than rally democrats around what he described as a critical issue affecting Nigeria’s democratic process, Okechukwu said Atiku chose to focus on reviving an opposition alliance that had already disintegrated.

He further cited Atiku’s previous public remarks on the 2003 elections, in which the former vice president said he deliberately allowed Bola Tinubu to retain Lagos despite having the political influence to win the state.

Okechukwu argued that the comments underscored the long political relationship between the two leaders and reinforced his claim that Atiku had once again, whether by omission or commission, strengthened Tinubu’s political fortunes.

He concluded that the opposition’s current predicament was the result of internal contradictions rather than external interference, insisting that no amount of reconciliation could restore a coalition that had already fractured beyond repair.

“The horse has bolted,” he said, adding that the opposition’s inability to manage its internal ambitions has effectively handed President Tinubu an early advantage in the race for the 2027 presidency.