Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he does not know if he will contest the presidency in 2027.
Atiku made the remark in a yet-to-be-aired interview for a television show, Untold Stories, with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, scheduled for broadcast today but exclusively obtained by Daily Trust.
The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently announced the formation of a coalition of opposition leaders to wrest power from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
However, there has been widespread speculation about who will lead the coalition and emerge as its presidential candidate, with former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, being considered among its key figures.
When asked if he would be running for the presidency in 2027, Atiku said: “I don’t know because there has to be, first of all, a viable platform, more than any other time in the political history of this country, particularly since the return of democracy.”
Atiku, who has run for the presidency a record six times, did not rule out the possibility of contesting again in 2027.
“I have not seen Nigeria in dire need of, you know, an experienced and credible leadership than this time.
“We had a similar, you know, what would I say, merger in 2014. About four of us or is it three? We all ran for president and one of us emerged, and we all supported the one who emerged, and he won,” he said.
He agreed with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s assertion that Nigeria’s democracy is deteriorating, saying the situation is “very dire.”
“No doubt about that,” he said.
Atiku also expressed his disappointment with the country’s political leadership.
“The next generation after me, many of them had been governors, had been senators. Instead of me to see an improvement in the level of governance at the state level and so on and so forth, I don’t see it. So I feel a little bit distressed.”
Atiku also questioned the credibility of the current legislative leadership, especially as it relates to the National Assembly’s ratification of the state of emergency in Rivers State
“I am not surprised,” he said, alleging that they are corrupt.
Why I didn’t pick Wike as running mate in 2023
The former vice president also addressed his decision not to choose the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, as his running mate in the 2023 election.
Many observers believe this decision played a role in the leadership crisis that has rocked the PDP since then.
There were speculations that the decision not to pick Wike contributed to Atiku’s loss at the poll, as the former Rivers State governor led five other PDP governors to rebel against the party’s choice. Wike later boasted about working against Atiku and delivering Rivers State for President Tinubu.
However, Atiku said he had no regrets about not picking Wike.
“No, not at all,” he said.
Explaining his decision, Atiku recalled that he was accused of failing to consult widely when he picked Peter Obi as his running mate in 2019.
“In 2019, when I won the ticket in Port Harcourt, I came back here and then went straight to Abeokuta to meet my boss, President Obasanjo, and told him, ‘Mr. President, I have got the ticket.’ So he asked me, he said, ‘Okay, from where is your running mate going to come from?’ I said, of course, it’s either South-east or South-west. He said, ‘No, leave South-west because I was there for eight years. Go to the South-east.’ I said, ‘Okay, sir.’
Atiku said when he asked Obasanjo for a nomination, the former president suggested Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the current Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), who had previously served as Nigeria’s Minister of Finance.
“So I told him Ngozi was not a member of our party. I believe if I forward the name to the party, they will reject it. He said, ‘Okay. What about Soludo?’ I said Soludo too was not a member of our party, so they will not accept.
“And he said, ‘What about Peter Obi?’ I said Peter Obi is a member of the party. So that was it. So I came back here in this very same building, very same room, and it was a morning meeting of the party leaders—Uche Secondus and others, including Wike himself and Tambuwal. I remember there were about seven of them. I said, ‘Look, I have been to my boss, and this is what he said. Do you have any objection? You are leaders of the party and also leaders of the governors’ forum.’”
Atiku said after they assured him that they had no objection, he asked them to announce Obi as his running mate. However, he later came under criticism for supposedly failing to consult widely.
“They said I did not consult with the party enough. So in 2023, I threw the whole thing to the party. I said, ‘Okay, set up a committee and recommend three people for me to pick as running mate.’”
According to Atiku, the committee submitted three names: then-Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as the first choice, Wike as the second, and then-Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel as the third.
“So I picked number one,” he said, adding that his decision not to pick Wike was simply because he was the second choice on the list.
‘Reason Abiola picked Kingibe over me for June 12’
The former vice president also reflected on how his late political mentor, Shehu Yar’adua, instructed him to step down for Chief Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, during the primaries of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He also explained why Abiola reneged on an agreement with Yar’adua to name him (Atiku) as his running mate after securing the ticket.
“I think there have been some misinterpretation or misrepresentation of what actually happened, even though I had in the past addressed the circumstances surrounding that incident,” he said.
Atiku recounted that after the first ballot, he called Yar’adua, who was in Kaduna at the time due to a political ban, and told him that Babagana Kingibe was poised to win if he didn’t intervene.
“So I told him, ‘Look, if you don’t come to Jos, there is every likelihood that Babagana Kingibe is going to be elected, and I know you don’t want it. So you better come to Jos, no matter how late.’
“And he drove all the way from Kaduna to Jos. By the time he came to Jos, it was about three or four a.m. And he called for a meeting in Alhaji Yahaya Kwande’s house. I do not know what he discussed with the late MKO Abiola. I was not privy to the meeting, and he did not tell me. But when we got to the meeting in Ambassador Kwande’s house, all he told me was that, ‘Turaki.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ He said, ‘Step down for MKO Abiola.’ I said, ‘Okay, sir. I have stepped down.’”
Atiku said he later learnt that SDP governors pressured Abiola to choose Kingibe instead.
“They threatened him and said, ‘Look, if you don’t take Kingibe, we are not going to support you.’ And the reason being that, all of them got their tickets when Kingibe was the chairman of SDP and Abiola felt that it was a risk worth taking.”
According to Atiku, Abiola ultimately abandoned his agreement with Yar’adua and picked Kingibe.
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