NIGERIA’S key opposition leaders have unveiled a new coalition aimed at unseating the ruling party in Africa’s biggest country ahead of the 2027 presidential elections.

The Africa Democratic Congress coalition, challenging President Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress, is led by Abubakar Atiku and Peter Obi, both runners-up in the last presidential vote. 

They are joined by other top figures, including former federal legislators and former governors from the ruling party.

“The coalition will stop Nigeria from becoming a one-party state,” said David Mark, a former Senate president and the interim chairman of the alliance, at Wednesday’s unveiling in the capital Abuja.

Mr Tinubu has been accused of planning to turn Nigeria to a one-party state by allegedly using state mechanisms to convince high-profile politicians to defect from the opposition to the governing party.

Although the president has denied the allegations, some of his closest allies, including within the ruling party leadership, appear to support them.

The battle for the country’s top job has intensified, even though there are two years to go before the next elections, as several federal legislators and state governors have defected to the ruling party in recent months and opposition politicians have coalesced to oppose Mr Tinubu’s bid for a second term.

The new coalition is reminiscent of the alliance that defeated the People’s Democratic Party in 2015, ending its uninterrupted 16-year rule.

As was the case in 2015, many see the current administration as not delivering on its key promises to improve the ailing security and economic sectors.

Mr Tinubu’s government has battled the fallout from unpopular economic reforms after removing decades-long subsidies and floating the Nigerian currency. 

The reforms have sparked an inflationary crisis as the country deals with a nationwide resurgence of attacks by armed groups.