2027: Atiku reacts to ‘directive’ to step down for Southern candidate

By Ayorinde Oluokun\Abuja

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has asked Nigerians to disregard the report that has has been asked to ditch his 2027 presidential ambition in favour of a candidate from the southern part of the country under the new opposition coalition’s African Democratic Congress, ADC.

Atiku, from Adamawa State in North East Nigeria, spoke against strong demand by some members of the coalition that the 2027 presidential ticket of the ADC should be zoned to the Southern part of the country.

This, they argued will enable the South to complete its two terms presidency if the incumbent President Bola Tinubu was not reelected in 2027. Major aspirants from the South who are members of the opposition coalition are the Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi and former minister and Rivers governor, Rotimi Amaechi.

The duo have promised to do only one term of four years if elected in 2027 to enable the presidency to return to the North in 2031.

As such, there have been growing calls, especially from supporters of Obi that Atiku should not contest the 2027 presidential election and should instead, support the former Anambra governor.

A report had indicated that Atiku has been asked to step down his ambition for a Southern candidate

But Atiku in a statement by his media office in Abuja on Tuesday said he has never been approached to step down for a Southern candidate ahead of the 2027 elections.

“There was no such meeting. Atiku Abubakar was never in attendance. The entire story is a malicious fabrication — pure fiction cooked up in the propaganda kitchens of the Tinubu-led APC regime,” the statement read.

“This is nothing but a diversionary tactic — an attempt by a faltering administration to sow discord within the opposition and derail the momentum gained by the successful unveiling of the ADC,” he said.

The former Vice President claimed stories that he has been asked to step down were meant to cause disunity in the camp of ADC ahead of the 2027 election cycle. But he affirmed that the opposition are united under the platform of ADC to vote out President Tinubu in the 2027 election.

“We want to remind the ruling party that Nigerians have already embraced the ADC as the most credible and viable opposition platform ahead of 2027. The massive and growing support the ADC continues to enjoy across the country is a clear signal that the Tinubu administration is living on borrowed time.”

The former Vice President therefore asked Nigerians to disregard such reports as they lacked credibility, authorship, or any factual basis.