Atiku: I will run in 2027, Nigeria must be rescued from intensive care unit

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has reportedly rejected the claim that he was not keen to contest the Nigerian presidency in the 2027 general election.

Atiku said this while refuting claims by Prof Ola Olateju of the Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State, who represented him when chieftains of some political parties defected to the African Democratic Congress, (ADC), in Lagos at the weekend.

Olateju had at the event said Atiku is keener about ensuring that Nigeria is better and not about being President.

The Professor had added that Atiku was not interested in being President at all costs.

But Professor Tunde Olusunle, a Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar during the 2023 presidential election dismissed claim by the Olateju.

In a telephone chat with the The Nation newspapers, Olateju quoted Atiku as dismissing the the claim in a statement he issued from his holiday home in the United Arab Emirates, (UAE) after reading reports of what Olateju said at the Lagos event

Atiku said the assertions by Olateju at the Lagos event was a misrepresentation of 2027 political ambitions.

Olusunle quoted Atiku as saying in the statement, “I did not issue that statement; when people stand in for me at events, we preview my thoughts on the instant subject and what my contribution or intervention will be, so we are on the same page.

“ In this particular instance, there was no engagement with me to distill my thoughts; Prof Olateju was not speaking for me.

“I will run in 2027, Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the intensive care unit it has been consigned; the degeneration in our country, the level of poverty and pain, the anguish, is unacceptable.

“The accompanying deceit, the loss of values, the mega-scale, unimpeded thievery, the absolute lack of accountability, must disturb every concerned patriot; I will be offering myself to lead the reclamation and reconstruction of our traumatised homeland.”

“ADC is leading a potent mass movement which will shock the world; we will upstage the status quo in a way which will leave doubters dumbstruck,” Olusunle quoted Atiku as saying.

The former Vice President also asserted that the ADC coalition will galvanise popular support for the liberation of Nigeria and victory in 2027. Atiku also dismissed report that the poor performance of ADC in recent bye-elections is a reflection of the strength of the party.