ADC Presidential Ticket: No One Is Stepping Down — Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has ruled out any plan to step down for another aspirant in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Atiku made his position known in a statement issued on Tuesday by his media aide, Paul Ibe, amid calls by supporters of former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, urging other presidential hopefuls in the ADC to step aside for him.

The statement followed recent comments by Obi’s allies, including Prof. Pat Utomi and Aisha Yesufu, who rejected suggestions that Obi should accept a vice-presidential slot within the opposition coalition.

Dismissing calls for him to withdraw, Atiku warned that such demands pose a threat to Nigeria’s democratic process.

“Any call—overt or covert—for Atiku to ‘step aside’ is a gift to authoritarian ambition and a betrayal of the Nigerian people,” the statement said.

The former vice president accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of deliberately shrinking democratic space and weakening opposition parties in an attempt to impose what he described as a creeping one-party system.

According to him, Nigerians have endured severe economic hardship and declining democratic freedoms over the past three years, which he blames on policies of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Atiku said the ADC was adopted by the leaders of the opposition parties as a platform to resist this trend and offer Nigerians a credible alternative. He, however, alleged that individuals aligned with the Presidency were now attempting to destabilise the party by interfering in its internal processes, especially the selection of a presidential candidate.

“The ADC is on a national rescue mission,” he said, adding that the party is committed to an open, transparent, and competitive process in choosing its flagbearer.

He warned against external interference, stating that “APC proxies and external meddlers” had no right to intimidate or sabotage the party’s democratic process.

Atiku said the ADC is currently focused on building its grassroots structures nationwide and urged all parties to allow the process to run its course.

Declaring that all qualified aspirants would be free to contest when the time comes, he stated emphatically, “No one is stepping down.”

He added that if anyone should step aside, it should be President Bola Tinubu, whom he described as a “national liability,” insisting that the ADC remains determined to challenge the ruling party and end what he called the misrule of the APC.