Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is set to challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election after emerging as the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Atiku secured the party’s ticket on Wednesday after polling 1,846,370 votes to defeat former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen in the party’s primary election.
However, both Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen rejected the outcome of the exercise, alleging that the primary was manipulated in favor of Atiku.
Speaking during his acceptance speech, Atiku declared that he was ready to unseat President Tinubu in 2027.
According to him, President Tinubu should “pack and return to Lagos.”
The development comes barely three days after President Tinubu clinched the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential ticket with 10.9 million votes during the ruling party’s primary election.
With the conclusion of the APC and ADC primaries, the stage appears set for a major political contest between Tinubu and Atiku ahead of the 2027 general election. Tinubu presents the South, while Atiku presents the North geopolitical bloc.
Attention is now shifting to the Nigerian Democratic Congress primary, where former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi is also expected to contest.
