The Labour Party (LP) and the Action Democratic Party (ADP) have opened talks aimed at forming a broad political alliance to adopt consensus candidates ahead of future elections, beginning with the 2026 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council polls and the Osun State governorship election.
The parties said the proposed alliance would focus on joint voter education, coordinated campaigns and collective mobilisation for agreed candidates, in a bid to reduce opposition vote-splitting and improve governance outcomes.
The initiative is expected to debut at the FCT Area Council elections scheduled for February 21, 2026, before extending to the Osun governorship poll on August 8, 2026. Discussions are also ongoing to apply the model to subsequent elections, including the Ekiti governorship race.
The proposed arrangement is being developed under a framework tagged Ballot Alliance for Good Governance, following an inaugural consultation between the Labour Party and the ADP. The Labour Party was represented by its Acting National Publicity Secretary, Prince Tony Akeni, while the ADP delegation was led by its National Youth Leader, Chinazam Ike.
Akeni described the initiative as a departure from traditional political party mergers, noting that the model allows parties to cooperate without surrendering their identities.
According to him, unlike formal mergers that require amendments to party constitutions and registration documents with the electoral commission, the ballot alliance model is a voluntary agreement among parties and their grassroots supporters.
He explained that the alliance would enable participating parties to rally behind the most viable and broadly accepted candidate in a particular election, regardless of party affiliation.
“The idea is to adopt the most electorate-accepted candidate among the contestants, without the participating parties abandoning their original platforms,” Akeni said.
He added that the model was designed to prevent the fragmentation of opposition votes, which often hands victory to dominant parties.
Under the arrangement, parties in the alliance would jointly campaign, protect votes on election day and ensure that results announced reflect the actual will of voters. The alliance would also agree on pre-election and post-election terms, including power-sharing where applicable.
Akeni said the consistent application of the model could reshape Nigeria’s political landscape by opening space for credible candidates to emerge across party lines.
He argued that the approach would strengthen opposition politics, promote accountability and deepen multi-party democracy.
Speaking on behalf of the ADP, Chinazam said youths would play a critical role in driving the alliance, given their numerical strength in the voting population.
He noted that if young voters embraced the ballot alliance concept, it could accelerate the emergence of leaders committed to good governance.
Chinazam disclosed that the parties planned to test the model across multiple electoral tiers, starting with the 2026 FCT council polls and governorship elections in Osun and Ekiti states.
He added that talks were ongoing to convene a wider conference of political parties early next year to expand the alliance.
According to him, the initiative would remain open to all political parties, including the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He stressed that performance and governance outcomes, rather than party labels, would determine whether a candidate is supported under the alliance framework.
The parties said the ultimate goal of the initiative is to elect leaders committed to good governance, irrespective of political party affiliation.