As opposition leaders move to form a united front against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, former presidential adviser Hakeem Baba-Ahmed has dismissed claims that the effort is being driven by northern politicians.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Monday, Baba-Ahmed said the emerging coalition — led by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai — includes politicians from both northern and southern Nigeria.
“There are southerners involved in this talk about coalitions too,” he said, citing former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola. “They love the south too, they don’t want to be second to the north.”
He rejected the narrative that northern politicians routinely form alliances whenever a southerner is in power, saying coalitions have always been a part of Nigeria’s political history and have consistently involved southern leaders.
Baba-Ahmed recalled how the All Progressives Congress (APC) was formed through a coalition involving then-southern politician Bola Tinubu. “We formed a coalition in 2011/2012 with a southerner. His name is President Tinubu now. He gave us his bit of Nigeria… and we created the APC.”
Calls for generational shift
While acknowledging that political coalitions are not new, Baba-Ahmed criticized the current crop of opposition leaders for lacking the credibility to lead genuine change. He argued that figures like Atiku and el-Rufai should step aside and allow a new generation of leaders to emerge.
“There are divisions among coalition members. None of these people should lead or be seen in a position that they are determining who should be in that coalition,” he said. “They can work behind the scenes.”
He called for a political shift that goes beyond familiar faces. “What they need is a generational shift… Nigerians need different kinds of leaders — not people who have been vice president, contested three times, been governors and ministers. Nigerians don’t believe they represent a different future. They just want to replace President Tinubu.”
