{"id":33652,"date":"2026-05-04T15:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=33652"},"modified":"2026-05-04T15:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:00:13","slug":"nigerias-top-opposition-figures-shift-parties-ahead-of-2027-election","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/nigerias-top-opposition-figures-shift-parties-ahead-of-2027-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria\u2019s top opposition figures shift parties ahead of 2027 election \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two of Nigeria\u2019s most prominent opposition figures have announced a major political shift ahead of next year\u2019s presidential election, signalling a possible realignment that could reshape the race.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, who finished third and fourth respectively in the 2023 presidential election, have both joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Their move has fuelled speculation about a potential joint ticket to challenge incumbent President Bola Tinubu in the next election.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The two leaders were previously members of the African Democratic Congress, alongside former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who came second in the last presidential race.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Political analyst Bala Yusuf told the <em>BBC<\/em> that the development could significantly alter Nigeria\u2019s electoral landscape, particularly if opposition forces succeed in consolidating support ahead of the polls.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33653,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-33652","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Two of Nigeria\u2019s most prominent opposition figures have announced a major political shift","published_date":"2026-05-04 13:43:21","news_description":"Two of Nigeria\u2019s most prominent opposition figures have announced a major political shift","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33654,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33652\/revisions\/33654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}