Opposition political parties and key political actors are set to converge on Abuja for a summit aimed at building a common strategy to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in the 2027 presidential election.

The summit, organised by political pressure group G-100 and led by former Director-General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman, is scheduled to hold on Monday, August 31, 2026, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre.

The Social Democratic Party and Peoples Redemption Party have confirmed their participation, while the Peoples Democratic Party has ruled itself out of the gathering.

The G-100 said the meeting would focus on practical cooperation among opposition parties, arguing that a fragmented opposition could struggle to defeat an incumbent party with greater organisational and financial resources.

In a statement issued ahead of the summit, Lukman urged opposition parties to set aside their differences and focus on areas where their interests converge.

The group said cooperation would not require parties to abandon their identities, structures or presidential ambitions, but would create a framework for dialogue and coordination ahead of the 2027 elections.

“The experience of elections in Nigeria and elsewhere has repeatedly demonstrated that a divided opposition often strengthens the incumbent,” the G-100 said.

The SDP confirmed that its presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, and the party’s national leadership would attend the meeting.

SDP National Publicity Secretary, Rufus Aiyenigba, said the party was committed to working with political groups seeking an alternative political direction for Nigeria.

The PRP also confirmed its participation, with its National Publicity Secretary, Bello Ishaq, telling The PUNCH, “We are attending.”

The PDP, however, distanced itself from the summit.

The party’s National Caretaker Committee spokesman, Jungudo Mohammed, said the PDP was unaware of the gathering and was not involved in any planned opposition alliance outside its own structures.

“The PDP is not aware of any gathering in the name of opposition summit,” Mohammed said.

He added that any opposition discussion without the PDP’s participation was “dead on arrival”.

The push for a united opposition comes amid growing debate over whether opposition parties can agree on a single presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election.

However, competing presidential ambitions, party structures and disagreements over the terms of any potential alliance remain significant obstacles.

The G-100 said Monday’s summit was not intended to produce winners or losers among opposition parties, but to begin developing mechanisms for dialogue, coordination and cooperation.

The group also cautioned political leaders against turning the gathering into another contest for influence, urging them instead to focus on what it described as the wider interests of Nigeria.

The PUNCH reported that some presidential candidates within the emerging opposition coalition could resist pressure to withdraw from the race in favour of a consensus candidate.

Efforts to obtain the positions of the African Democratic Congress and Nigeria Democratic Congress on the summit were unsuccessful as of the time of filing the report.