Fresh cracks have emerged within Nigeria’s opposition bloc ahead of the 2027 presidential election as major political parties and pressure groups faulted the position of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that no southern candidate can defeat President Bola Tinubu in the next general election.

The parties, including the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Labour Party, Young Progressives Party, Social Democratic Party, New Nigeria People’s Party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress, as well as both the Kwankwasiyya and Obidient Movements, disagreed with the former vice president over his stance.

In separate interviews, they insisted that the presidency should remain in the South in the interest of fairness, national cohesion and political stability.

The disagreement followed a statement issued on Sunday by Atiku’s media aide, Olusola Sanni, warning opposition parties against zoning their presidential tickets to the South.

The former vice president’s camp argued that while the ruling All Progressives Congress may retain its southern presidential configuration around Tinubu, it would be politically unwise for the opposition to adopt the same approach.

“The first and most obvious question is this: how does a Southern opposition candidate realistically unseat a sitting Southern president? Nigerian political history offers no precedent for such an outcome,” the statement read.

The Atiku camp also argued that by 2027, the South would have spent more years in power than the North since the return of democracy in 1999.

But reacting separately, opposition parties dismissed the argument as politically narrow, divisive and inconsistent with the country’s power-sharing understanding.

The National Publicity Secretary of APGA, Ejimofor Opara, said the South should be allowed to complete its turn in office, insisting Tinubu remained defeatable despite Atiku’s calculations.

“It is the turn of the South, and we strongly believe that every right-thinking northerner should support it,” he said.

The YPP also rejected Atiku’s position, insisting competence and leadership capacity should outweigh regional considerations.

“There is nothing cast in stone that says President Bola Tinubu cannot lose to any candidate, whether the candidate is from the South or the North,” the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Wale Egbeola-Martins, said.

Similarly, the SDP maintained that it could challenge the APC even with a southern presidential candidate.

“A southern candidate in the person of Prince Adewole Adebayo has emerged as the presidential candidate of the SDP in the 2027 general election,” SDP spokesman Rufus Aiyenigba stated.

The NNPP National Chairman, Yusuf Bala Usman, also argued that Nigerians, not political elites, would determine who becomes president in 2027.

“Whether you are from the North or South, it doesn’t matter,” he said, while acknowledging the existence of an informal power-sharing arrangement between both regions.

The spokesman for the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Habibu Muhammed, described Atiku’s position as insulting and divisive.

“To me, that statement is insulting. It is like saying there is no qualified person other than yourself in all the states in the South,” he said.

The Labour Party also faulted Atiku’s political calculations, insisting the 2023 election already disproved the claim that a southern opposition candidate could not defeat another southerner.

“With due respect to the former Vice President, I am sorry to say that he got his permutation wrong,” LP National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, said.

Despite the backlash, the Peoples Democratic Party maintained that zoning remained essential for political stability.

The PDP Interim National Working Committee spokesman, Ini Ememobong, said the principle was introduced to promote inclusivity and reduce tension in the country.

“If you conduct a survey of Nigerians’ sentiments today, the popular view is that the South should complete its current four-year cycle,” he stated.

The debate over zoning has intensified in recent weeks following fresh political realignments ahead of the 2027 election.

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, recently joined the NDC amid ongoing coalition talks among opposition leaders.