- Safiu Kehinde
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has given a condition that can warrant his withdrawal from the 2027 presidential race.
Atiku, in an interview published on Wednesday by BBC Hausa, disclosed that he will step down from the race if a younger aspirant defeats him to clinch the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential ticket.
While he did not confirm whether he would contest, the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Presidential candidate expressed his readiness to support and mentor any young candidate that defeats him in the ADC Primaries.
“This is only the beginning. Our priority is to establish the party and gain a strong following,” Atiku said when asked if he would run.
“If I run for office, and a young man defeats me, I will accept that. The party we have joined now prioritises youth and women,” he said.
Speaking on the reason behind his exit from the PDP, Atiku reportedly alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had infiltrated the PDP with moles and caused divides within the party like every other strong opposition parties.
“The APC government in power has decided to use some party leaders to frustrate efforts of having a strong opposition that could challenge the government,
“As the day went by, the crises in PDP were growing, and the hope of resolving it was speedily vanishing because the government was allegedly using some senior members of the party to destabilise the party further, and we could see that in their actions and utterances,” Atiku said.
According to reports, the ex-Vice President lamented that he could not intervene decisively in the PDP crisis because the party leaders ignored his advice.
“I could have taken some firm decisions to fix the party if I were the chairman or secretary of the party, or someone who listened to me was the chairman or secretary.
“Sadly, the people occupying those positions have different interests that are primarily personal to them,” he said.
Atiku dismissed speculations of also dumping the ADC later.