Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Dan Ulasi, said the fragmentation of opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general election could make it difficult to stop President Bola Tinubu from securing a second term.
Ulasi stated this on Friday during an interview on Arise Television’s The Morning Show, where he discussed divisions among opposition leaders and reported disagreements within the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the party of former Anambra State governor Peter Obi.
He said the opposition was more divided than it was before the 2023 presidential election, warning that underestimating Tinubu’s political strategy would be a mistake.
“In 2023, I said on this platform that if anybody takes President Tinubu for granted, you’re doing it at your own peril,” Ulasi said.
Describing Tinubu as one of Nigeria’s most strategic politicians, the PDP chieftain recalled an opposition meeting held before the 2023 election, where some attendees reportedly expressed confidence that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar would defeat Tinubu.
Ulasi said he challenged that optimism, questioning what the opposition had done on the ground to demonstrate that Atiku would win.
“When he was coming up, we had an emergency meeting somewhere (with Atiku). I think everybody was there, and governors were saying, ‘You have won, you have won already.’ I said, ‘You must be jokers,’” he recalled.
According to Ulasi, he was asked to leave the meeting after challenging the claims, but returned after Atiku called him back.
“I said, who has won? That Atiku sitting down here, which election has he won against Tinubu? What have we done on the ground to show that Atiku will win?” he said.
Ulasi noted that Tinubu eventually won the 2023 presidential election, arguing that the opposition should learn from that experience rather than repeat its mistakes.
“And we went to that election. What happened? Tinubu won. And we again in another cycle of election. Like you rightly said, the opposition is so fragmented now, worse than it was in 2023,” he said.
Assessing the political landscape, Ulasi said defeating Tinubu would require an extraordinary effort if the opposition remained divided.
“So, only God will answer that question, if there is some divine process going on. But as things are on the ground, it will take some magic for anybody to stop Tinubu. I can tell you that,” he said.
