Martin Onovo, a former presidential candidate, says opposition leaders and political parties are still united ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Mr Onovo, a member of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), said the opposition was ahead of the ruling party despite the crisis over their candidacies on various political platforms.
The former presidential candidate of the defunct National Conscience Party in 2015 said this in an interview on Sunday in Lagos.
Mr Onovo, also the head of policy positions at the Movement for Fundamental Change, said the resolution of the Ibadan Opposition summit to unite behind a single candidate ahead of the 2027 election to wrest power remained intact.
“There is no divided opposition yet. The conclusion of the summit stands. We have time. We never said the other parties would not have their candidates. 
“I know this because I am inside, speaking directly with the leadership of the majority of the opposition parties. 
“We have more resources than the ruling party. We have people — highly sophisticated people. 
“We are on top of our game. You can see that the ruling party is in panic and confused. The opposition is not divided.
“The convention agreement is intact, valid, and we are all working towards it, even with each opposition party fielding its own presidential candidate,” Mr Onovo said.
According to him, the opposition leaders still have enough time to synergise and work together to wrestle power from the ruling APC.
He added, “We have superior resources. We are ahead of them in the game. We have been outmanoeuvring them, and we will continue to do so until the end.
“We have a clear objective, well-defined strategies and structured processes. We are constantly consulting among ourselves, reviewing our plans and updating our strategies.
“They are highly sophisticated, and we are confident we will achieve our objective.
“From the beginning of this year until now, we have consistently outsmarted the ruling party at every stage. That gives us confidence going forward.”
Mr Onovo said the ruling party’s control of many state governments would not guarantee electoral victory.
He said governors wielded political influence, but that influence should not be mistaken for votes.
Mr Onovo said history had shown that sitting governors could lose elections in states under their control.
According to him, each governor has only one vote, like every other Nigerian.
“The people ultimately determine the outcome of elections, not the number of governors a political party controls,” he said.
 
 
(NAN)