The 2027 electioneering season may not be a smooth ride for President Bola Tinubu who may be seeking re-election. This is due to the mounting opposition against such an ambition.

Recently, former vice president Atiku Abubakar and former governor of Anambra State Peter Obi came together for a national conference where they aired their views about the Tinubu administration.

They were joined by other opposition leaders who believe that the President is failing in steering the country in the right direction.

Some of those who partook in the conference included aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party that gave Tinubu the Presidency.

This article takes a look at the present and former members of the APC who are currently working against Tinubu.

Salihu Lukman

Salihu Lukman is a former member of the APC who has vowed to campaign against Tinubu and the party in the 2027 elections.

According to him, the Tinubu he supported to be president has arrogantly derailed from the promises he made to Nigerians.

He recently told Arise TV’s The Morning Show that he supported Tinubu because he was convinced that the former governor of Lagos State was a true democrat and progressive leader.

“I had the conviction that President Tinubu is truly a progressive politician and a Democrat, which was why I invested my support in him.

“But once I saw him departing from those beliefs I had, I didn’t wait any longer. And I was not pushed by anybody… I am humble enough to admit that my judgement was wrong.

“It is a challenge for President Tinubu to prove many of us wrong, and if he did so, I would be the first to come out and apologise again that I was wrong.

“But to the extent that he continues arrogantly in the direction he’s going, without remorse that he has departed from all the promises he made to Nigerians, I have no apology to him, and I will continue to stand and campaign against both the APC and his administration,”he said.

Nasir El-rufai

The former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai, was among those who convinced the north that power must return to the South and that the region should vote for Tinubu in 2023.

However, his relationship with the President got strained when the National Assembly rejected his nomination as a minister in the Tinubu administration.

After licking his wounds for a while, El-rufai is now openly antagonising the President and was part of the coalition that staged a conference attacking Tinubu.

At the conference, the former governor bemoaned the lack of internal democracy and active party structures within the APC.

“I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show,” he stated.

A few days after the conference, El-rufai accused his successor, Governor Uba Sani, of receiving N150 billion from the Tinubu administration, a sum he claims is causing a rift between him and the governor.

Kayode Fayemi

The former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, was among those who attended the conference of opposition leaders despite being an APC member.

Although no anti-Tinubu statement has been credited to him, many still believe that his presence betrayed the APC.

However, it would be recalled that Fayemi was one of the politicians who stepped down for Tinubu during he 2023 APC presidential primaries.

According to him, he took the decision because he saw Tinubu as the best candidate to lead Nigeria.

It is not clear what may have changed his mind to make him frolick with the opposition that is planning to unseat the very man he supported to be President, who also supported him to become Ekiti governor.

Rotimi Amaechi

The former Minister of Transport and ex-governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, was among those present at the conference that attacked Tinubu's presidency.

He had contested the 2023 APC presidential primaries but lost woefully to Tinubu.

However, speaking at the conference, Amaechi urged Nigerians to be prepared to defend their mandate in the forthcoming 2027 election, warning that politicians, including the current president, will not cede power easily.

Meanwhile, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, has urged Tinubu’s political opponents to refrain from stoking division and “heating up the polity.”

Also, the Minister of Defence, Bello Matawalle, warned politicians like Amaechi against inciting comments, saying the federal government is ready to defend Nigeria against such.

Rauf Aregbesola

The former Minister of Interior and ex-governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, fell out with the President before the 2023 presidential election and never supported the Tinubu ambition.

His grouse with Tinubu is because of the support he gave to former Osun State governor, Gboyega Oyetola, whom Aregbesola claimed derailed from the plan he laid down before making him his successor.

At an event, Aregbesola vowed to unseat Oyetola, which would pave the way for the opposition. His supporters who were present during his speech began singing a song to mock Tinubu.

Aregbesola has since been suspended by the APC for anti-party activities in Osun.