President Bola Tinubu’s quest to retain power in 2027 may face a stiff challenge as key political opposition figures appear to be favourably disposed to forming a coalition to stop the Lion of Bourdillon.

In recent weeks, they have become emboldened in their criticisms against the current administration, an indication that they may be warming up for the battle to wrest power from the president.

Sunday Telegraph observed that the opposition figures have launched ferocious attacks on Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing them not only of poor governance but betrayal of the people’s mandate.

It was former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who fired the first salvo, when he took to his X ( Twitter) handle and accused Tinubu of executing a policy of hounding the opposition in order to silence dissenting voices and decimate the opposition camp before 2027.

The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 General Election accused the APC of pursuing a “systematic dismantling” of the opposition through the arrests and prosecution of critics of the Tinubu’s administration on frivolous charges.

According to Abubakar, the recent arrest and prosecution of Omoyele Sowore and Usman Yusuf were the latest in the harassment of opposition figures.

“When I made the clarion call that Tinubu and the APC were devoting their energies to the systematic harassment, intimidation, and dismantling of the opposition, all in service of their grand design for a one-party autocracy, I became the target of vicious attacks.

“The arrest and baseless prosecution of @YeleSowore is the latest chapter in this unrelenting campaign. Now, they have seen fit to add Professor Usman Yusuf — an outspoken critic of this administration — into their grim roster. At the pace they are going, it seems they may soon find themselves contending with the incarceration of every one of us,” he tweeted.

As if these were not enough, Abubakar openly accused Tinubu of attempting to buy up the political space ahead of 2027 through the alleged plot to compromise every formidable opposition political party with a Greek gift of N50 million each.

In a similar vein, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 General Elections, Mr Peter Obi, has consistently criticised the Tinubu administration over certain policies that have negative impacts on the people.

Obi, who had never hidden his feelings about the perceived anti – people’s policies of the Tinubu administration is believed to be one of the strongest critics of the present government.

But a former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el – Rufai, a founding member of the APC, has also joined the fray. Earlier in the week, the former governor broke ranks with his party and launched a volley of uncomplimentary remarks about the state of the nation.

In a post on his X (Twitter) handle on Thursday, el- Rufai stated the APC and Nigeria currently faced “an existential crisis of monumental proportions,” a comment that has earned him not a few knocks from the ruling party.