Former Vice President and now presidential aspirant on the platform of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar has disclosed that the 2027 presidential election would be his last shot at the office.
Atiku, who began contesting for the presidency of Nigeria since 1993, and made several more attempts for the office, made the disclosure Wednesday night at an interview with Arise TV Primetime.
Responding to a question on how high the stakes of the upcoming election is, considering that he would soon be 80, Atiku retorted,
“Yes, the stakes are higher because I believe that would be my last outing.”
He, however, stated that he considered himself the most popular candidate from the north, stressing that no other northern politician in the race had more block votes than him.
“Can you tell me who among the current leaders in the North have more votes than I have? You are talking of figures like Tambuwal; you are talking of figures like Kwakwanso; the El-Rufais and other emerging political figures. But none of them have got block votes as much as I have got. Kwakwanso has Kano. We concede that to him. Kano is even now split between him and Governor Abba Yusuf,” he declared.
The former vice president disclosed that ADC would rather its presidential candidate emerged by consensus, however, adding that should that fail, they would resort to direct primaries.
“The first option would be to aim for consensus. If we don’t get it, we’ll go for direct primaries,” declared Atiku.
Responding to questions about why Nigerians should still support him after multiple attempts and considering his age, the former vice president argued that Nigeria’s main challenge remains leadership. He stressed that he represents both the young and the old, experience and vision for the country’s future.
He also emphasised the need for leadership development among young Nigerians, noting that the country would benefit from structured training for emerging leaders.
“We have seen various levels of leadership in the country, both young and old, and I still believe our expectations of young leadership are below what we thought. I believe young people require experience and tutelage from the older generation,” he declared. Authority.
