Political analyst Sumner Sambo has cautioned that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may be overextending its political strategy ahead of future elections. Speaking on Arise News’ The Morning Show on Monday, Sambo warned against what he described as growing overconfidence within the party, arguing that the outcome of the last general election showed a closely contested race.
He argued that it would be poor political calculation for the APC to assume an easy victory in forthcoming polls, stressing that the party’s current approach could prove counterproductive. According to Sambo, the APC’s strategy appears to have inadvertently encouraged opposition figures to align under a common platform.
He referenced key opposition leaders, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, whose support bases, he noted, recorded results close to that of President Bola Tinubu in the last election. Sambo said the ideal political strategy for the presidency would have been to keep opposition blocs fragmented rather than allowing a scenario where they could coalesce.
“I will just ask that they be not too overconfident of the political process,” Sambo said. “Because if you look at the results of the last election, I think it will be bad politics on their part for them to confidently think that President will just win. I’m thinking that they are over strategizing in the APC, and they are pushing their luck too far.”
He questioned how the APC could allow all its opponents—whose votes were much closer to its own in the last general election—to unite under one political umbrella. “I thought that the best of politics that will come out of President Tinubu is to ensure that these groups, the Peter Obi group, the Atiku group, and the Kwankwaso group will still remain wherever they are,” he added.
Sambo warned that the APC’s tactics may have backfired, noting that the party’s strategists need to rethink their approach. “If you look at how close the figures were, you will know that it was more of like a narrow escape for President Tinubu in the last elections,” he said. “And I would think he wouldn’t have allowed a situation whereby all these persons and these other groups coming together.”
He concluded that the party’s current political maneuvering may be overstretched, potentially affecting its performance in the next election. “Whatever politics that the presidency and the APC-led federal government are playing that have led all the opposition to coalesce together… I’m thinking that the APC has overplayed itself,” Sambo said.
