“The plan may include a possible run-off or other issues that may come up. So, these are the issues. These are why these meetings were convened: to bring Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi back to the table and get their commitment to the ongoing discussion,” a source told The PUNCH.

Another source said the possibility of a second round was being considered as part of the alliance’s contingency planning, adding that Obi and Atiku seems not interested in stepping down.

He said, “The two major opposition leaders, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, seem to be less concerned about the single-candidacy plan of the G100.

“But they still need one another because the G100, from the statistics we are having and the research conducted, there may not be a straight-up easy winner. A winner may not emerge in the first round.

“So, part of the plan now is that if we cannot achieve a single candidate for the opposition leaders, in the case of a run-off, this ongoing discussion will make it quite easy for the opposition parties to queue behind one candidate and work together.”

Section 134 of the Nigerian Constitution states that where no candidate meets the requirements for election as President, a second election may be held between candidates selected in accordance with the constitutional provisions. INEC’s regulations provide for a run-off where no candidate meets the required vote and geographical-spread thresholds.

Confirming that the faction remained committed to the G100 initiative, the National Publicity Secretary of the Tanimu Turaki-led PDP faction, Ini Ememobong, said, “The PDP, led by Tanimu Turaki, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, remains committed to the G100 activities.

“We have resolved that the only way to rescue Nigeria from the maladministration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC is for the opposition parties to come together. So, we are committed to that project, and we are behind it.”

The APM National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, also confirmed the party’s continued participation in the G100 discussions.

However, he said the party’s presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, remained in the race for the presidency.

“Our party was there from the beginning. The conversation is ongoing, and as time goes on, I believe the other stakeholders will make some of the decisions and positions public,” he said.

Today, as we celebrate our independence, we must speak honestly about the journey so far, the choices we made, and the country we are determined to build from here.

For too long, the promise of Nigeria was undermined by choices that postponed difficult decisions and allowed deep economic distortions to grow.

By 2023, poverty was rising, and hope was nearly gone. The country’s situation was darker than ever. We had no choice but to act.

Nigeria was like a sick patient who receives the terrible news that he has cancer. His doctor explains that the treatment will be difficult and painful, but that it offers a strong prospect of recovery. The patient has a choice. He can begin treatment, endure its discomfort and fight the disease. Or he can ask only for morphine, dull the pain and leave the cancer to spread.

For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came.

They focused on symptoms while allowing the disease to take hold deep within the fabric of our society. We spent enormous sums sustaining inefficient arrangements that were never intended to last. We hid from difficult truths and passed the consequences from one generation to the next.

When this Administration assumed office, we resolved to do things differently. We chose to excise the cancer. The reforms that followed were difficult. The side effects were real. Yet, we must never confuse the medicine with the disease.

Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them. Now, as certain influential but regressive voices would have us abandon the treatment and return ourselves to the abuse of addictive subsidies, we must resist their siren song. We must remember why we began this journey and how far we have already come.

Three and a half years later, the evidence that Nigeria’s economic outlook has improved is undeniable. Our economy has grown by over 4 per cent this year. Both oil and non-oil sectors have contributed to the renewed period of stable growth.

Oil theft is down. Inflation has fallen substantially from its peak. Our foreign reserves have been rebuilt, our foreign exchange market has stabilised, and in 2025 this country recorded its highest revenue from non-oil exports in its history, exceeding $6 billion. This is real money being made by real Nigerian businesses.

These are not idle claims. International observers, journalists, NGOs and multilateral institutions can see the change. Each has concluded that our reforms have strengthened Nigeria’s economic stability and resilience. The private sector has long since delivered its verdict, and foreign direct investment continues to rise each year.

My fellow Nigerians, we have reached a turning point.

The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed. For three years, our overriding purpose was to correct our nation’s course.

Now, our purpose is simple: shared and widespread prosperity.

When I speak of prosperity, I do not speak merely of a larger economy, abstract numbers or better statistics. I mean something much more personal.

I mean a Nigeria in which the farmer can cultivate his land safely, produce more at lower cost, and earn a decent return for his labour. A Nigeria in which factories have reliable power, businesses can obtain credit, and young people can find productive work. A Nigeria in which food and transportation are affordable, education is within reach, and hard-working families can look towards the future with confidence.

This is the promise we must now fulfil.

Our priority is to bring down the cost of living. We will achieve this by lowering the cost of producing and moving the things Nigerians consume.

We have the land and people to feed ourselves. My government is therefore focused on expanding mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improving access to seeds and fertiliser, holistically increasing mechanisation, and investing in storage and transportation. We are building and completing the roads, railways and ports that connect farms and factories to markets.

Our logic is simple. When a farmer produces more cheaply, when fewer crops are lost between the farm and the market, when a manufacturer spends less on electricity, when a truck reaches its destination faster, and when the business environment fosters fair competition, all those savings will ultimately find their way into the price of goods in the market.

But prosperity requires more than cheaper goods. It requires productive work.

Nigeria is a young country. Millions of young Nigerians enter adulthood every year with talent, energy and ambition. Our responsibility is to ensure that this great demographic strength becomes an engine of production rather than a source of despair.

We are therefore placing jobs, enterprise, and industrial growth at the heart of our government’s policies.

We will use our gas to power new industries. We will support businesses that work to bring factories back to life in our great industrial centres. We will expand digital connectivity into communities that have waited too long to participate in the modern economy. We will invest in the skills employers demand and support Nigerian businesses with the infrastructure and finance they need to grow.

I want to see more Nigerians making things. I want to see more Nigerian farms feeding our cities and supplying our factories. I want to see Nigerian businesses selling Nigerian goods to the whole world. I want young Nigerians building unicorns and creating opportunities for others here at home.

I am also conscious that millions of our fellow citizens cannot wait for tomorrow. Some Nigerian families still struggle today for the next meal, the next school fee, the next medical bill, or simply enough money to get to work. Their circumstances did not begin with the reforms of the last three years. Their struggle is the accumulated consequence of decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient opportunity and institutions that too often failed those who needed them most.

We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations. But we can change its course. We can build an economy that steadily lifts people out of poverty while ensuring that those who remain vulnerable are not abandoned along the way.

That is why we are strengthening direct support for the poorest households and improving the National Social Register so that assistance reaches those who genuinely need it.

It is why the Nigerian Education Loan Fund is ensuring that the child of a low-income family need not surrender the dream of higher education simply because his parents cannot afford the fees.

It is why CREDICORP is giving working Nigerians access to consumer credit, allowing people to acquire vehicles, solar systems, digital devices and other essential assets without first having to accumulate years of savings.

That is why, working with our states and local governments, we will continue to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education, and the essential public services poorer Nigerians depend on most. Since 2023, we have paid salaries and pensions on time and in full. We have reformed the national pension program to benefit retirees and the vulnerable.

These programmes are not substitutes for prosperity. They are a bridge to aid our nation’s citizens on their path towards it. Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently.

We will defeat it.

It will take time. It will require discipline. It will require sustained growth year after year and the creation of millions of productive opportunities across our country.

But for the first time in decades, we embark on this task from a position of strength; with an economy whose fundamental direction has been corrected. We confronted the difficult choices we faced and have laid the foundations for lasting prosperity. Rather than fail the promise of a better future for our children, the time has come for us to build that future.

The age of reform has done its work. Now begins the age of prosperity. An age in which the promise of this great nation must finally become the lived experience of Nigerians from all walks of life.

We have travelled through difficult years together. We have made hard decisions together. And now, still together, we must build the country those decisions have made possible.

I believe deeply in what lies ahead.

I believe in the millions of ordinary men and women whose work, courage and determination have always been the true strength of our country. The road ahead will still demand much from us. But we travel it now with firm footing, a clear direction and renewed hope in our collective future.

Nigeria has corrected its course. We have passed through our own Red Sea. This is not the time to look back. Let us go forward together, with faith in ourselves, faith in our country, and faith that the sacrifices we have made will yield their reward.

The Promised Land before us is a Nigeria of abundance and opportunity; a nation where prosperity is broadly shared, where every child can dream beyond the circumstances of his birth, and where our country’s immense promise is finally reflected in the lives of our people.

Our destination is in sight. Our foundations are strong. Our direction is clear. So let us go forward. No looking back.

Happy Independence Day, my fellow Nigerians. God bless you all, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR

President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Amupitan has also described AI-driven disinformation as a serious threat to the 2027 elections, noting that convincing fabricated materials could create confusion among voters and undermine confidence in genuine electoral information.

But Tanko said the proposed use of AI had raised fresh questions which INEC needed to answer before the technology could be deployed on a wider scale.He argued that Nigerians deserved to know the exact role AI would play in the electoral process, the problems it was designed to solve and the measures that would be put in place to prevent manipulation.

“The same INEC that has failed to address the most basic issues surrounding electoral transparency, result transmission and the credibility of its processes is now announcing plans to deploy Artificial Intelligence in the 2027 elections.

“We reject this proposal in its entirety, particularly as the Commission has failed to explain how this technology will work, what problems it is intended to solve and what safeguards will prevent its abuse.”

Technology has become an important part of the country’s election management process in recent years, with INEC relying on digital systems for voter accreditation, result management and the electronic publication of polling-unit results.

The 2023 general election, however, generated intense debate over the performance and reliability of some of the technologies used during the exercise.

The Independent National Electoral Commission subsequently faced questions over the operation of its Result Viewing Portal, commonly known as IReV, and the uploading of polling-unit result sheets.Tanko referred to a recent investigation by Mundx Analytics while making his case against introducing additional technology without first addressing existing concerns.

The investigation examined metadata connected to presidential result sheets from the 2023 election and raised questions about the devices used to upload some of the results to the IReV platform.

Mundx Analytics has separately stated that more than 50,000 presidential result sheets from the 2023 election appeared to have been uploaded using private phones, with its review identifying more than 800 phone models and a significant proportion of tagged uploads that were not from BVAS devices.

Tanko said the development required clarification from INEC, particularly as the commission prepares for another nationwide election. He maintained that the adoption of new technology should not replace the need for institutional accountability and clear procedures that can be independently verified.

“Introducing AI into a system that has yet to account for its existing failures is not electoral reform. It is an attempt to distract Nigerians from the fundamental questions of institutional independence, transparency and accountability,” he said. The Obidient Movement therefore called on INEC to make its full 2027 election plan available to Nigerians.Government

The group wants the commission to disclose the technologies it intends to use, the procedures that will guide their operation and the safeguards that will be applied. It also demanded an independent audit of INEC’s electoral technology systems.

According to the movement, the outcome of such an audit should be made public, alongside details of any weaknesses discovered and the steps taken by the commission to correct them.

Tanko also called for a result transmission process that can be independently verified at every stage.

He said the results recorded at polling units must be accurately reflected in the final figures declared by the commission.

The group further asked INEC to explain in detail how its proposed AI systems would function and called for independent testing of the technology before it is deployed for the general elections.

Tanko said INEC Chairman Amupitan still had an opportunity to address the concerns raised by the movement and other Nigerians before the 2027 polls.

“The INEC Chairman, Mr Josh Amupitan, still has enough time to retrace his steps before it is too late. The people’s mandate is not negotiable,” Tanko added.