Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says he will run for president in the 2027 general election.
BACKGROUND
On Saturday, Ola Olateju, a professor at the Achievers
University in Ondo, said Abubakar was not desperate to become Nigeria’s president
in 2027.
Olateju represented Abubakar at a ceremony to welcome
defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) into
the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Lagos.
“Atiku Abubakar’s plan is to build a better Nigeria. It’s
not about him being president. It’s about having a good government that can
deliver for Nigerians. It’s not a personal thing for him, and that’s why some
of us are with him. It’s not about Atiku having to be president at all costs,”
he said.
‘HE DIDN’T SPEAK FOR
ME’
But Olateju’s remarks rubbed Abubakar the wrong way.
In a telephone interview with Tunde Olusunle, who was
special adviser on media and publicity to Abubakar during the 2023 presidential
election, the ex-vice president who is currently in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), disowned Olateju’s comments.
“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,” he said.
“In this particular instance, there was no engagement with
me to distil 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 [to]. 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.”
Abubakar said the ADC coalition, of which he is a member,
will cause an upset in the 2027 elections.
“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,” he said.
In May 2024, Abubakar said he will “keep contesting” for the
Nigerian presidency as long as he is hale and hearty.
Abubakar, who is 78-years-old, was the standard-bearer of
the PDP in the 2023 election.
The politician will be 81 by the time the next presidential
election comes around in 2027.
Abubakar has run for the number one office six times, but
has been on the ballot as a presidential candidate on three occasions — 2007,
2019, and 2023.
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