Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he does not know if he will contest in the 2027 presidential election
Atiku disclosed this in a yet-to-be-aired interview for a television show, Untold Stories, with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, scheduled for broadcast today
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 is growing 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 has run for the presidency a record six times, and refused to 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 consented 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 further expressed his disappointment with the nation’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.”
