Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, has expressed interest in trying his luck in becoming the president of Nigeria through the 2027 presidential election and sacking President Bola Tinubu from Aso Rock via the poll.
Atiku may have his luck won in the 2027 presidential election if he can secure the northern alliance, reconciliation with Peter Obi and Kwankwaso and ensure their return to the PDP, regain the southeast’s support and explore the internal crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The former vice president’s recent visit to immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari was strategic, and it appeared to be a move to secure the Northern alliance ahead of the next presidential election.
Though the PDP leader said he had visited Buhari on a Sallah homage, the associate disclosed that the two Nigerian leaders discussed the 2023 and 2027 presidential elections.
Atiku’s visit to Buhari has been described as “historic” because it will be the first of its kind since the former vice president dumped the APC soon after forming an alliance with the former president ahead of the 2015 election.
Buhari was not the only former president Atiku visited; he had earlier visited former President Ibrahim Babangida and ex-head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar, both in Minna, the Niger state capital.
Another permutation Atiku needed to realise his presidential ambition in 2027 was to secure a great alliance with the Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidates in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
While Obi became a force in the 2023 presidential election when he swept the votes of the Southeast and North-Central, Kwankwaso made a significant statement through Kano votes.
Atiku needed to work on securing the South East for his presidential aspiration. The region has been a comfort for the PDP since the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999.
However, the last two elections have spoken otherwise, as the PDP has gradually lost four of the five states in the region to the APC, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and the Labour Party.
The umbrella party also performed woefully in the 2023 presidential election, as Obi swept most of the votes across the five states in the Southeast.
While Tinubu is much more aware of the APC’s internal crisis and will work to ensure it does not affect his second-term bid, Atiku still needs to explore the crisis to achieve his ambition come 2027.
Atiku should begin forming alliances with the party’s aggrieved members and ensure they work to his advantage.
Currently, Tinubu has issues with prominent figures like Nasir El-Rufai, Yahaya Bello, Kayode Fayemi, Ibikunle Amosun, and Femi Fani-Kayode. The four of these are former governors, while Fani-Kayode is a former minister.
In 2023, Atiku tried his seventh chance to become Nigerian president when he contested against President Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election but lost the poll to the Lagos-born politician.
Atiku’s 30-year journey to becoming Nigeria’s number one citizen ended in defeat at the ballot box and in court, with the former vice president coming, seeing, and failing to conquer when the Supreme Court struck out his appeal against President Tinubu in 2023.
Interestingly, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election had vowed to try his luck for the eighth time in the 2027 presidential election, and he appeared to be working tirelessly to make his dream come true.
In making his dream come true, Atiku was vocal about President Tinubu’s policies and projects, passing comments that appeared to put the president on his toes as there had always been a response from the presidency.
One of Atiku’s major criticisms that consistently received responses from the presidency was his call for transparency on the Lagos to Calabar highway project.
In a statement, his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the former vice president, challenged the Tinubu administration to disclose the project’s cost.
He added that the government can’t continue to be mute on how public funds were being spent at a time when the country was in dire economic challenges.
Atiku also questioned the release of N1.06tn for the pilot phase, or 6% of the project, which started from the Eko Atlantic and is expected to end at the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
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