Former Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, has cautioned that President Bola Tinubu could win the 2027 elections with ease if opposition parties fail to come together.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, Sani said the ongoing defections to the APC and the growing disunity among opposition groups could hand the ruling party another smooth victory. “You can’t remove a ruling party without a united front,” he said, urging parties like the PDP, Labour Party, NNPP, and SDP to put aside personal interests and work for the survival of democracy.

Despite several calls for a merger or alliance, Sani noted that the opposition remains divided, with each party choosing to go its separate way. He warned that heading into 2027 in this disjointed state could lead to another one-sided result. He recalled that the failure to unite before the 2023 election played a major role in Tinubu’s win, and unless something changes, the same scenario could repeat itself.

Sani also pointed out that party-switching in Nigeria is common because political parties don’t really stand on firm ideologies. According to him, most manifestos are similar, and many politicians simply use parties as platforms to chase their goals.

He stressed that it’s not Tinubu’s responsibility to keep opposition groups alive, saying the parties must take charge of their own internal issues and prevent more defections. Predicting further movement to the APC, he said unresolved leadership crises, especially in the PDP, are pushing politicians away.

“You can’t build confidence in a party when there are multiple secretaries or rival factions fighting over primaries. It creates confusion, and no one wants to invest in that kind of instability,” he said. Sani ended by warning that if things continue this way, Nigeria might slip into a one-party system—not officially, but by default.