The founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Boniface Aniebonam, has declared that ongoing coalition negotiations for the 2027 elections cannot be legitimately conducted by former presidential candidates without the involvement of their political parties' leadership.
Aniebonam made this statement in response to merger talks and coalition plans currently being spearheaded by major contenders from the 2023 presidential election, asserting that such efforts would be ineffective without proper party authorization.
"We do not have individual candidacy in Nigeria. All presidential candidates emerge from a political party and it is the parties that determines who will be their flag bearer," Aniebonam stated.
He emphasized that the ongoing meetings and negotiations would not yield meaningful results if they fail to include the leadership of the respective political parties, noting that "members and leaders of the party are owners of the party."
"It is inappropriate to assume that when they enter their coalition, the members will automatically agree with the idea. So you can see that all the negotiations here and there will not make any difference for people who are not even sure of getting tickets of their parties," he added.
Former Candidates No Longer Party Leaders
Aniebonam clarified that all presidential candidates who lost in the 2023 election no longer hold leadership positions within their political parties. According to him, the actual leaders are those currently in power and those managing the party machinery.
"Let it be known to the frontline political parties, in-particular, that their leadership of PDP, Labour and NNPP, etc, respectively have ceased to exist immediately all post election litigations became resolved by the Supreme Court," he stated.
He expressed surprise that most presidential candidates from the last general elections still present themselves as leaders of their respective political parties, emphasizing that "it is only President Bola Tinubu, who won the presidential election in 2023 that is the leader of the All Progressives Congress."
Regarding the NNPP's future plans, Aniebonam indicated that the party might consider entering into a technical alliance with sister political parties that share similar ideologies for the 2027 elections, but only if deemed necessary.
The statement comes amid increasing political realignments as parties begin positioning themselves for the next general elections in Nigeria.
