‎‎The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has decried the lack of unity among opposition leaders, urging them to set aside their political ambitions and work together to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.

‎The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Fredrick Agbedi, made the call on Monday at the G100 Summit of Nigeria’s Opposition Political Parties held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

‎Agbedi said the Minority Caucus partnered with the G100 to bring opposition parties together, streamline their ambitions and build a collective platform capable of winning the 2027 elections and, ultimately, “salvaging Nigeria.”

‎“On behalf of the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives, we decided that we partner with the G100 to see how the opposition parties can come together, streamline our ambitions, and ensure that we take this government out,” he said.

‎“Not just take this government out, but salvage Nigeria. Because we all know that Nigeria is in pain, and Nigerians are suffering since the inception of the APC government in Nigeria.”

‎The lawmaker said the caucus had no preferred opposition candidate and was not supporting one party or politician over another, stressing that unity remained the priority.

‎“For us, like the G100 has said, there is no issue of preferred candidates, there is no issue of one we love more than the other, but that there is strength in unity,” Agbedi said.

‎He urged opposition leaders to replicate the political cooperation that enabled the opposition to defeat the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 presidential election.

‎“And if we are united, what the APC did in 2015, we can repeat it, we can do it. Some will say it’s late, but we feel it’s better late than never,” he said.

‎Agbedi also challenged politicians to abandon the belief that every election they contest must produce victory, saying opposition parties must recognise that their failure to unite could again cost them the presidency despite collectively securing millions of votes.

‎“We believe that for every election we contest, there is victory, we are seeing victory. And for us, if we are truthful to ourselves, it’s not true that for every election you contest, you win. There are those that you win, there are those that you lose,” he said.

‎He said politicians who genuinely believed that Nigeria was in trouble must be prepared to make sacrifices for the broader national interest rather than blindly follow their leaders.

‎“But if you feel that Nigeria is in trouble and we need to salvage Nigeria, then of course there is the need that we work together and ensure that we win and salvage this country, rather than believing that we are following our leaders and whatever our leaders want we do,” he said.

‎Agbedi urged political followers and party members to pressure their leaders to participate actively in the opposition unity process.

‎“As followers, sometimes we need to also think outside the box to ensure that we urge our leaders to participate in this process, to give credence to this process, to sacrifice some time for this process, to also participate with us in ensuring that we are able to win the election,” he said.

‎The Minority Leader warned that opposition parties would gain little from dividing their votes among multiple candidates and returning after the election to count the votes they could have pooled together.

‎“So what will it benefit us when we are divided and scattered and we go into elections and we come back to collate the millions of votes we have divided amongst ourselves and could not give us victory?” he asked.

‎“It will be like an exercise in futility. And we pray that we shouldn’t, in 2027, go back to that.”

‎Agbedi also linked opposition unity to the effectiveness of the minority caucus in the National Assembly, saying division among opposition leaders had weakened their ability to work together in Parliament.

‎“Because back in the Parliament, we are suffering the same thing. Some give the excuse that, ah, our leaders are divided, so why do I need to be with you people?” he said.

‎“But if they see you together, we will also have a better control of ourselves in the Parliament and give you strength. So we urge you to work together,” he added.

‎He called on representatives of opposition leaders at the summit to communicate the importance of the process to their principals and encourage them to participate directly.

‎“We urge those who are here representing their Principals in House to speak to their Principals. Their faces are required in gatherings like this,” Agbedi said.

‎“We need to take this journey collectively so that at the end of the day, victory shall be our own,” he stated. (Daily Trust)