A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has urged African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race and embrace the role of a statesman.
Okechukwu said Atiku’s decision to contest the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket in 2022 weakened the opposition. He argued that the move ignored calls for power to shift to the South and hurt Nigeria’s democracy.
Okechukwu blames Atiku for PDP crisis
Speaking on Prime Time on Arise Television on Monday, Okechukwu said Atiku’s emergence as the PDP presidential candidate divided the party. He added that the crisis continues to affect the opposition.
Although he praised the former vice president, Okechukwu urged him to put national interest ahead of personal ambition.
“I have great respect for His Excellency Atiku Abubakar. He was very close to some of my late senior colleagues, Dubem Onyia and Chuba Okadigbo. My appeal to him is to consider the interest of the Nigerian state and our fledgling democracy.”
He said Atiku should have stepped aside in 2022 and allowed a southern aspirant to contest the presidency.
Says Atiku missed chance to become a statesman
Okechukwu recalled that Atiku left the PDP in 2014 to join the APC after insisting it was the North’s turn to produce the president.
He noted that Atiku later returned to the PDP. The former vice president subsequently won the party’s presidential ticket in both 2018 and 2022.
According to Okechukwu, Atiku missed an opportunity to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy. He argued that respecting the PDP’s zoning arrangement would have elevated him to the status of a statesman.
Faults one-party state claims
Okechukwu also criticised Atiku’s repeated claims that President Bola Tinubu is working to establish a one-party state.
He insisted the PDP created its own problems. According to him, the party’s internal decisions, rather than the APC’s actions, caused its current challenges.
“If he had allowed a Southerner to contest against President Tinubu, even if the PDP had lost, the party could have remained strong.”
Zoning dispute fuelled PDP divisions
Atiku’s emergence as the PDP presidential candidate in 2022 sparked widespread controversy. Many party members insisted the ticket should have gone to the South after former President Muhammadu Buhari completed his eight-year tenure.
The disagreement triggered the G5 governors’ rebellion and deepened divisions within the PDP. Many political observers later linked the crisis to the party’s defeat in the 2023 presidential election.
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