The Director-General of the NDC’s Presidential Campaign Council, Ibrahim Abdulkarim, has urged opposition leaders, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, to join the political alliance backing Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 presidential election to strengthen the opposition’s chances of victory.

Speaking in an interview on Arise News, Abdulkarim said the opposition coalition had already begun with Obi as its presidential candidate and Kwankwaso agreeing to work with him, adding that other opposition figures, including Atiku, were welcome to join the alliance ahead of the 2027 election.

“The opposition has to come together for us to win, the opposition have already come together. Nobody said the coalition must happen on ADC. It can happen in NDC, and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has already dropped his ambition.

“What we are asking for other people to join us, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to join all of us, so at least we will have the spread that they think they can add.

“But if they are not coming—if they are not coming to join us to continue to see the opposition swell up, so at least they can give them the comfort they want, we will continue what we have started.”

Speaking on criticism of the NDC’s campaign structures and readiness for the 2027 elections, Abdulkarim dismissed questions about the composition of its campaign council, arguing that the party should not be confused with the Obidient movement or its numerous support groups.

“How can you compare a party with a support group? Support group! We don’t have any problem. They’re all part of the NDC party. We have more than a thousand support groups like that.”

Abdulkarim has urged Nigerians concerned about alleged electoral fraud to join the NDC, promising that the party would protect votes in the 2027 elections. He said the party was developing a strategy to ensure votes were not stolen, adding that it would campaign peacefully across the country and mobilise voters who had lost confidence in the electoral process.

“What we are saying is that anybody that is thinking he don’t want his vote to be rigged and he don’t want his vote to be stolen, he should join NDC. Because in NDC, we believe in something I don’t want to say on television, but we say privately, that there is nobody—nobody will take away our vote. This is the promise by our party, by our leaders, and the young Nigerians.

“We are very civil. We are going to do our campaign peacefully. We are going to go into every corner. Let me tell you, we have what is called on-the-side voters. Those people that feel, ‘If I cast my vote, it do not count.’ Anybody that have that thinking, it’s a potential person that is going to vote NDC—Mr. Peter Obi and Kwankwaso’s tickets.

“We are sure of that. We will assure them before the election that nobody will take away their vote. And I can promise anybody, anybody that feels he wants his vote to count, we have a very, very unique and serious program that we have put in place.”

Addressing allegations that ministers pay billions of naira to secure appointments and later use public office to recover their investments, Abdulkarim cited Peter Obi’s record as Anambra State governor, insisting that Obi selected competent individuals based on merit rather than financial inducements.

He argued that the allegations highlighted the need for a new approach to governance, adding that Obi would appoint capable people to help move Nigeria forward if elected president in 2027.

“The response to that is that Mr. Peter Obi is a living testimony today, and he was a governor. I will say it, and anybody can fact-check me, as he said, ‘Go and verify.’ In all the commissioners when he was a governor—he didn’t know them from anywhere, from Adam. He picked the best.

“He is going to look for the best brain and get people to work. This is what Obi is telling us from the campaign council, and he will do it different. In appointment, I can tell you, Mr. Peter Obi is going to get the best hands to help him move Nigeria forward. That I can tell you for free.” (AriseNews TV)