Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has officially confirmed that he will contest the 2027 presidential election, stressing that Nigeria’s situation demands urgent rescue.
Gatekeepers News reports that this followed comments made by Professor Ola Olateju of Achievers University, Ondo, who represented Atiku at a Lagos event where members of the PDP and LP defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Olateju had told attendees “Atiku Abubakar’s plan is to build a better Nigeria. It’s not about him being president. It’s about having a good government that can deliver for Nigerians.”
“ It’s not a personal thing for him, and that’s why some of us are with him. It’s not about Atiku having to be president at all costs.”
Abubakar, however, disassociated himself from those remarks. Speaking from the United Arab Emirates in a telephone conversation with his former aide, Tunde Olusunle, he said Olateju’s words did not reflect his own position.
He said, “I did not issue that statement. When people stand in for me at events, we preview my thoughts on the instant subject and what my contribution or intervention will be, so we are on the same page.”
“In this particular instance, there was no engagement with me to distil my thoughts. Prof Olateju was not speaking for me.”
Making his own position clear, the former vice president declared “ I will run in 2027. Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the intensive care unit it has been consigned [to]. The degeneration in our country, the level of poverty and pain, the anguish, is unacceptable.”
“The accompanying deceit, the loss of values, the mega-scale, unimpeded thievery, the absolute lack of accountability, must disturb every concerned patriot. I will be offering myself to lead the reclamation and reconstruction of our traumatised homeland.”
Abubakar further expressed confidence in the ADC coalition saying, “ADC is leading a potent mass movement which will shock the world. We will upstage the status quo in a way which will leave doubters dumbstruck.”
