In a hard‑hitting interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, former presidential aide Laolu Akande delivered a searing verdict: the All Progressives Congress (APC) is structurally poised to steamroll the opposition in the 2027 general elections.
“I think APC has better arrangements,” Akande declared, lambasting rival parties for their lack of coherent manifestos and internal cohesion.
His assessment lays bare the widening chasm between a ruling party buoyed by defections and a fractured opposition stuck in personal‑vendetta politics.
Defections Cement APC’s Parliamentary Stronghold
Since the 2023 handover, the APC has orchestrated a sustained wave of defections, swelling its ranks in both chambers of the National Assembly.
As of early July 2025, APC lawmakers held 68 of 109 Senate seats and an impressive 207 of 360 seats in the House of Representatives — a sharp increase from just 50 senators at the dawn of the 10th Assembly
This legislative juggernaut underscores Akande’s point: while the opposition bleeds talent, the APC consolidates power with alarming efficiency.
Mass Exodus from Opposition Yields One‑Party Fears
Opposition parties have been buffeted by “intra‑party wrangling and desertion,” with key figures abandoning manifestos and allegiances in droves.
Indeed, recent defections have raised spectres of a de facto one‑party state, a concern echoed by critics who warn that a democracy without a viable opposition is a democracy in peril.
As Datti Baba‑Ahmed’s own admission of an internal Labour Party (LP) crisis shows, even high‑profile figures cannot stem the tide of disillusionment and desertion.
Lessons from 2015: Unity Breeds Victory
History offers a stark precedent: in 2015, the nascent APC forged a merger of three opposition parties and swiftly unseated the then‑dominant PDP — the first peaceful transfer of power in Nigeria’s history.
That victory was powered by disciplined grassroots mobilisation and a unified message under Muhammadu Buhari.
By contrast, today’s opposition remains splintered among the PDP, LP and NNPP, each vying for the same voter blocs without a shared vision or coordinated ground game.
Policy‑Lite Opposition vs. Issue‑Driven Ruling Party
Akande’s critique strikes at the heart of the opposition’s malaise: a fixation on ousting President Bola Tinubu “without offering viable policy alternatives.”
Whereas the APC touts a four‑point agenda on poverty alleviation, anti‑corruption and institutional reform, the opposition’s talking points remain mired in nostalgia for “old folks” who represent the same political class Nigerians have long rejected.
Only activists like Omoyele Sowore have dared to propose fresh ideas, yet even his influence has been blunted by a lack of party machinery.
The Road to 2027: Civic Engagement or Reactivation of Old Guard?
As party leaders gather again in Abuja to choose a new APC chairman — a move Akande says could further unify the ruling party — the onus falls on civil society to demand issue‑based politics over personality cults.
“Nigerians would not be inspired by the same old personal vendetta politics,” he warned, urging a pivot towards genuine policy debates on core national challenges.
With the opposition’s infrastructure in disrepair and the APC’s organisational motor running at full throttle, the countdown to 2027 begins in earnest.
