Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is not easing into the 2027 election cycle. He is already at full throttle, and he is making no effort to hide it.
Speaking on national television, Atiku declared flatly that President Bola Tinubu cannot win a free and fair presidential election in 2027, citing what he described as the worst administration he has witnessed in Nigeria’s democratic history. He framed the opposition coalition forming around the African Democratic Congress not merely as a political alliance but as a national rescue effort.
“With a coalition candidate facing Bola Tinubu, Bola Tinubu is dead on arrival,” he said. “This is not a slogan. It is a fact.”
Atiku confirmed that 2027 will be his final bid for the presidency, a race he has been running in various forms since 1993. He acknowledged that the stakes are higher than any previous attempt, but maintained that his political experience positions him uniquely to lead a broad coalition that spans multiple generations of Nigerian political leaders.
On the question of a consensus candidate within the coalition, Atiku was measured. He said the ADC plans to pursue consensus first, but will proceed to a competitive primary if agreement cannot be reached. He ruled out any ambiguity about where he stands if a consensus candidate emerges ahead of him: he would support whoever gets the ticket.
He dismissed zoning as a constitutional requirement, arguing that the North carries a cumulative deficit in years of holding the presidency under the current democratic dispensation, and that his candidacy is consistent with any objective reading of power rotation. He was equally dismissive of critics who suggest the coalition is more rivalry than genuine partnership, describing the calibre of figures involved as evidence enough of its seriousness.
His assessment of former President Goodluck Jonathan was characteristically blunt. He attributed Jonathan’s failures in office primarily to inexperience, describing him as a decent man who was simply not equipped to manage the scale of challenges that confronted him.
Atiku also pushed back against the idea that younger leaders are yet ready to take the reins without guidance. He said the coalition presents a visible succession pattern, with leaders spanning his generation and those well below it, something he said was absent when the APC was formed ahead of the 2015 elections.
