Politics
Atiku’s endless ambition sparks doubts among ADC founders
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president of Nigeria, is gearing up for his seventh presidential bid, this time representing the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
At 78 years old, Abubakar has been pursuing Nigeria’s presidency since 1993, running under various political parties without achieving victory.
His latest attempt was in 2023, where he was the candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but was defeated by President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
READ ALSO: Atiku accuses EFCC of political witch-hunt over Tambuwal’s detention
His recent switch to the ADC has sparked renewed discussions about his political significance, although it has also caused some unrest within the party and among his long-time supporters.
Insiders within the ADC have indicated that some of the party’s founding members are apprehensive about his ambitions.
“Many of the original promoters of the party are developing cold feet. It’s not about Atiku’s credentials, it’s the perception of perpetual ambition without results,” a senior ADC source told BusinessDay.
In Adamawa, where he has his political stronghold, the response has been tepid. Governor Ahmadu Fintiri has distanced himself, and the Adamawa PDP has outrightly declined to join him in the ADC.
“We are not joining him in the ADC. Quote me, he will not make any impact in 2027 if he continues with his journey into ADC,” stated Ibrahim Tahir, the chairman of the Adamawa PDP.
Tahir suggested that Abubakar should step back from active politics.
His words: “He will be more respected now if he chooses to play the role of an elder statesman rather than a presidential candidate of any political party.
“By 2027, age will no longer be on his side, and he will not be strong enough to withstand the rigours of the presidency.”
Abubakar’s support network seems to be increasingly fragmented. Boss Mustapha, the former secretary to the government of the federation, has refuted claims that he would join the ADC.
Additionally, Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna, is reportedly uneasy about Abubakar’s aspirations.
Analysts suggest that his failure to solidify his support base could weaken his chances in the 2027 election compared to previous attempts. The ADC itself is also scrutinized for its lack of structure and resources in comparison to the APC and PDP.
Nevertheless, some of Abubakar’s supporters maintain that he is still a viable option.
“You can’t deny him his right to contest.
“As a Nigerian, he is free to contest the 2027 presidential election, no matter what people feel about his candidature,” remarked Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, a politician from Port Harcourt and a former aide to Abubakar.
Eze dismissed worries regarding zoning, asserting that it is still valid for a northern candidate to run.
“Those canvassing this position are ignorant of the fact that it was Jonathan who disrupted the North’s turn by contesting in 2011,” he stated.
A conciliatory Atiku Abubakar, in magnanimity with victory, extended the olive branch to Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, the pair he defeated on Wednesday night to clinch the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for next year’s presidential election.
He appealed to both men never to abandon the party ahead of the election, scheduled for January 2027, but to close ranks to ensure victory for both party, Nigeria as a country and the people currently under the bondage of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Extending the olive branch shortly after being handed the party flag, officially declaring him as the candidate, he said: “I therefore appeal to all those who feel aggrieved to come back to our party and close ranks with the rest of us. In particular, I invite Chief Rotimi Anechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatu-Deen to join me in this fight to save our democracy and our country.
“As I said previously, there are no winners and no losers. Our people look up to us for leadership and I am ready to lead,” he said.
He added that he would work with other aspirants and stakeholders to build the party ahead of the general election.
“I shall work with you all to continue to build our party. I will campaign with you and if Nigeria’s leaders demand it, govern with you to build a country that works for all of us.”
The appeal is coming hours after both Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation and Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), rejected the result, even before it was announced, citing what they described as manipulation of the voting process, with Hayatu-Deen saying he would not attend the announcement of the result.
Regardless, Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President between 1999 and 2007, said he truly humbled and excited to lead the party into the next elections, adding that he was particularly excited by the party’s demonstration of internal democracy despite the position of naysayers.
Hear him: “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.
“I thank the primary elections Committee for organising peaceful, free, fair and transparent primaries. I thank the various leadership organs of our party, the various stakeholders, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication and all our party members and supporters for their efforts, patience and conduct during the process.
“With the primaries behind us, the real hard work is about to begin. We have to prepare to campaign hard to win the next general elections in order to begin the difficult process of rescuing our country and its long-suffering people from this government.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
For Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s 14th leader, and the third President since 1999, the road is now clear, should he be interested to make a comeback to reclaim the office he lost to the late President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
This is on the strength of a decision by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which hours ago, threw out a suit challenging the eligibility of the former President to make a go at the nation’s number one job, including that of 2027.
Peter Lifu, on Tuesday, held that JohnMary Jideobi, the plaintiff, who pursued the case of stopping the ex-President, lacked the legal right to have instituted the suit, having not suffered any loss from Jonathan’s perceived intention to vie in next year’s poll.
(AGF).
Lifu not only dismissed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, where Jideobi had prayed the court for an order restraining Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election, but slammed him with a N20 million fine to be paid in favour of the ex-president, and N1million fine against in favour of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
Against the backdrop of Jideobi’s argument was that Jonathan, having completed the tenure of the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and later served a full term after the 2011 elections, he had exhausted the constitutional limit of two terms in office, Lifu described it as a waste of time.
He also dismissed the plea that the court should restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing Jonathan’s name as a candidate in the 2027 elections or any future presidential poll, insisting that the matter had earlier been litigated upon with a judicial pronouncement made on it.
Referring to the decision of a Federal High Court, Yenagoa which had previously dealt with a similar matter and the concurrence of the Court of Appeal, affirming Jonathan’s eligibility, Lifu, who earlier refused to recuse himself from the matter, said he was bound by both, dismissed the latest attempt as “an abuse of court process.”
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