I’ll step down if younger aspirant wins ADC presidential ticket — Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said he will withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if a younger aspirant defeats him to clinch the African Democratic Congress presidential ticket.

Atiku stated this in an interview with BBC Hausa published on Wednesday, where he also noted that he would support and mentor such a candidate.

Atiku, however, said he could not confirm whether he would contest the presidency again.

“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 added.

When asked if there were suspicions that he could abandon the ADC later, Atiku dismissed such insinuations.

“No, I’m not known for that,” he said, shaking his head. “If I say so, then I’ll go that way,” he added, gesturing with his hand that he was “a man of one Qibla.”

On his exit from the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress had infiltrated the PDP with moles.

Besides, that is one of the reasons we set up ADC, which I am a member of,” he explained.

The former PDP presidential candidate accused the APC-led federal government of dividing the 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,” Atiku claimed.

“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,” he added.

Atiku 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.

Speaking on the ADC’s preparedness for 2027, Atiku said the party had concluded its national structure and was focusing on state and local government levels.

“Regarding the ADC, our goal is to establish the party structures at the state level. We have already established the national leadership, and they are working on ensuring the state and local government structures are strengthened and ready for the 2027 elections,” he stated.