Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has thrown his weight firmly behind the African Democratic Congress as the opposition force best positioned to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general elections, describing the party as one grounded in strong ideals, solid structure, and unwavering resolve.
Atiku made the declaration in a post on X, shortly after hosting leaders of the Adamawa State chapter of the ADC at his Abuja residence, an occasion he described as deeply touching. He used the platform to charge the new state leadership with the responsibility of healing internal divisions, carrying all members along, and governing the party’s affairs with fairness and inclusivity.
The former vice president’s remarks came on the heels of comments by ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi, who declared that Nigerians were determined to remove President Bola Tinubu from office in 2027, alleging that the administration’s policies had caused widespread hardship and destroyed livelihoods. Abdullahi was responding to the president’s remarks at the State House, where Tinubu had dismissed the growing opposition against him ahead of the next election cycle. “They want to scare me off? It is a lie. I have been through this path before,” the president had said.
Abdullahi described the president’s comments as the words of a leader detached from the everyday realities of suffering, insecurity, and frustration confronting millions of Nigerians.
Meanwhile, a parallel controversy has erupted within opposition circles over Atiku’s age, with prominent activist and Peter Obi supporter Zekeri Idris calling on the former vice president to step aside and make way for younger candidates. In a widely circulated video, Idris argued that Nigeria’s current challenges demanded a different kind of energy and that no young Nigerian would support an 80-year-old candidate, regardless of his running mate.
“If he likes, let him go and bring angels from heaven as his running mate. We will not vote for an 80-year-old man,” Idris said, urging Atiku’s allies to instead encourage him to play an elder statesman’s role by helping to unite younger opposition contenders such as Obi and former Kano Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
ADC chieftain and publisher Dele Momodu fired back sharply, dismissing the campaign against Atiku as unbridled political mischief and accusing those behind it of misdirecting energy that should be focused on holding the ruling government accountable.
Momodu cited a long list of world leaders who had served their nations effectively at advanced ages, including former United States Presidents Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President Muhammadu Buhari, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, former Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and Liberian President Joseph Boakai.
“What disqualifies Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, please?” Momodu asked pointedly.
Atiku, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the Peoples Democratic Party platform and lost to President Tinubu, is understood to be actively positioning for the ADC presidential ticket ahead of 2027.
