There are strong indications that opposition parties and their aspirants for the 2027 presidential election will settle for a consensus following the release of the revised timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission. It was reported that major stakeholders in the African Democratic Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party and the Labour Party were considering picking their candidates through consensus.

According to some chieftains of the parties, direct primaries will strain their purses and weaken their financial capacities ahead of the polls, hence the need to convince all aspirants to agree on a consensus.

The parties had earlier faulted the recently enacted Electoral Act 2026, which restricts all political parties to either direct primaries or consensus in picking candidates for elective offices.

Section 84 of the Electoral Act states, “A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Act shall hold primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the commission. The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct primaries or consensus.”

The 2022 Electoral Act had provided for delegate elections in the nomination of candidates by the parties.

But the provision was removed by the National Assembly during the review of the Electoral Act, a development that triggered protests from opposition parties.

The opposition parties had also rejected Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act, which mandates parties to submit their digital membership register to INEC at least 21 days before any primary, congress, or convention.

According to the provision, non-compliance will result in the disqualification of parties from fielding candidates.

Following the enactment of the Electoral Act 2026, INEC, on February 26, issued a new election timetable.

In the new timetable, the commission stated that the conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from them, will commence on April 23, 2026, and end on May 30, 2026.

Apparently, racing against time and the need to manage available funds for the general elections, findings by PUNCH showed that the leadership of the opposition parties is mulling a consensus to choose their candidates.

Consensus will save a lot of money, logistics – ADC

In the ADC, it was gathered that some leaders have already begun moves to rally presidential aspirants and their key supporters to key into a consensus.

Currently, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, have openly declared their intention to pick the presidential ticket of the ADC.

A principal official of the ADC told one of our correspondents that the party leadership was working towards having a consensus candidate.

“It is most likely we will have a consensus candidate because, given the situation we are in, consensus is the best option for us. We didn’t give it much attention before, but now that we have been restricted to either direct primaries or consensus, we have to go for consensus.

“Everybody knows that direct primaries are logistically difficult given the time frame that has been imposed on us. So, we are likely going to have a consensus, and the leadership of the party will meet on that very shortly. In fact, some leaders are already making moves on it,” he said.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Bolaji Abdullahi, in an interview with PUNCH, said the party had yet to discuss the issue of consensus.

Though he acknowledged that consensus would save the party and its candidates a huge amount of money, Abdullahi maintained that the party would ensure a fair and transparent process in choosing its candidates from presidential to councillorship positions.

“Everybody knows that consensus will save us a lot of money and logistics, but the party leadership has yet to discuss that,” he said.

Similarly, the Tanimu Turaki-led PDP is also said to be considering a consensus arrangement in picking its candidates.

One of the zonal chairmen of the PDP in the faction, who spoke with PUNCH on condition of anonymity, described consensus as the best way to solidify the party’s strength, given the crisis rocking it.

“The APC-controlled National Assembly wants to kill the opposition totally in this country. Mandating parties to do consensus or direct primaries is a trap; they want the opposition to fight and lose money before the elections come. That is their game.

“In APC, only Tinubu is contesting. They have their governors going for second terms; nobody is contesting against them. But opposition parties have many aspirants contesting for one office or the other. If they spend their last kobo to win a ticket, how much will they have left to fund the real election?

“On our side, some of us have started talking to other leaders that we need to go for consensus, and some of them are reasoning along. The matter will be discussed at our next meeting. Consensus will solidify our strength because our aspirants will save their money for the polls,” he said.

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ini Ememobong, said the party was already taking steps to comply with the timelines set by INEC despite its reservations about the new framework.

He criticised what he described as an intrusion by the National Assembly into the internal affairs of political parties, noting that parties should be allowed to determine how they select their candidates.

“We are taking practical steps to meet INEC deadlines, though we are opposed to the overreach by the National Assembly in limiting the options available to political parties. That is clearly an attempt to intrude into the internal affairs of political parties.

“But we have started our digital membership registration, and when we get to the point of primaries, we will look at the two options available. When there is consensus, then fine; if not, direct primaries will be held,” Ememobong said.

PUNCH gathered that NNPP was also considering consensus for its primaries.

While confirming the move, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Ladipo Johnson, said the NNPP was working towards unanimity among aspirants in the party.

He said, “We have started new membership registration across the country. Although the time given to us by INEC was short, we believe we will meet the deadline and submit both the manual and electronic registers as required.

“In doing the registration, we are aware that we might have to go for consensus or direct primaries. It depends on the situation of the party at the time and the candidates we have for various positions.

“But we will try as much as possible to achieve unanimity to ensure that our candidates emerge in accordance with the law. We all know that consensus will save the party in many ways, including financially and logistically. So, it is worth considering.”

On its part, the Labour Party said consensus remained a legitimate option under the law and could help reduce the pressure and cost associated with organising large-scale primaries.

The party praised the elimination of indirect primaries from the options available to political parties.

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said the move would reduce the monetisation of the electoral process and make candidate selection more reflective of the will of party members.

“It is important that political parties abide by the rules. It will make producing a candidate less stressful and will also deepen democracy because indirect primaries are a way of monetising the electoral process.

“Aspirants will just bring out money and elect somebody who is not the choice of the people. But when you conduct direct primaries, members will all file out, and it is impossible to bribe all members for votes.

“Consensus is a good way of producing party candidates, so the Labour Party will abide by the constitution and give Nigerians the best candidate who can win the election,” Ifoh said. (The PUNCH)