A close ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Mr Dele Momodu, on Thursday ruled out any possibility of Atiku withdrawing from the 2027 presidential race in favour of former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi.
Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in November 2025, months after resigning from the PDP. The move was widely seen as a strategy to secure the party’s presidential ticket for the 2027 elections. Last week, Obi, who finished third in the 2023 presidential election with over six million votes, also defected from the Labour Party to the ADC, a development observers interpret as part of a broader opposition realignment aimed at challenging President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Speculation had suggested that Atiku might step aside for Obi based on a rumored arrangement that Obi would serve a single term before ceding the position to Atiku in 2031. However, Momodu dismissed the idea in an interview with PUNCH Online on Thursday, saying Atiku had no reason to abandon his ambitions.
Momodu stated, “Several people have asked me to advise former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to voluntarily withdraw from the 2027 presidential race. When I ask them why, they say he is too old. Not that they know of any fatality awaiting him. Not that he is less healthy than President Bola Tinubu. Out of unsubstantiated malice and prejudice, Tinubu can and should contest, but Atiku can’t and shouldn’t contest.”
The Ovation publisher noted that narratives attempting to discredit Atiku’s presidential ambition have become recurrent in the media, and insisted that the former vice president remains committed to contesting the 2027 election.
