After nearly three decades of chasing Nigeria’s highest office, Atiku Abubakar has made one of his most definitive political statements yet confirming that the 2027 presidential election will be his eighth and final attempt at the presidency, win or lose.
What He Actually Said
Speaking on ARISE News Channel’s Prime Time Special, Atiku was asked directly whether 2027 would represent his last shot at the presidency, given his age and the fact that this would mark his eighth run at the office. His answer left little room for ambiguity: he confirmed it was certainly his final outing, explaining that the stakes were significantly higher this time around, and describing the point as simply incontrovertible.
It’s a notably firm statement from a politician who’s spent over two decades navigating Nigeria’s shifting political landscape, and one that effectively closes the door on any future attempts regardless of how 2027 plays out.
A Political Journey Spanning Nearly 30 Years
To understand the weight of this declaration, it helps to look at just how long Atiku has been in this race. He first attempted the presidency in 1993, and has returned to the ballot repeatedly since in 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and most recently in 2023, when he ran as the PDP’s candidate and finished second to President Bola Tinubu, securing just under 7 million votes to Tinubu’s roughly 8.8 million. Along the way, he’s shifted across multiple political platforms, including the PDP, the Action Congress, and briefly aligning with the APC’s formation in 2014, before eventually resigning from the PDP entirely in July 2025 and throwing his weight behind the African Democratic Congress, which he’s since described as leading a coalition he believes will “shock the world” in 2027.
Why This Declaration Matters Now
Atiku’s announcement lands amid a genuinely competitive and closely watched build-up to 2027. The Tinubu presidency has publicly dismissed the idea that Atiku, even in combination with Labour Party’s Peter Obi, could pose a serious threat to a Tinubu-Shettima ticket. Within opposition circles too, Atiku hasn’t had universal support — some PDP and Labour Party figures have previously argued he should step aside entirely, pointing to zoning arrangements they believe favour a southern candidate through to 2031, while Nyesom Wike has publicly and repeatedly said Atiku has no realistic path to the PDP ticket again.
Given that backdrop, Atiku framing 2027 explicitly as his last attempt could be read multiple ways as a genuinely reflective, age-driven decision, as a rallying call meant to energise supporters around a definitive “final push” narrative, or simply as an acknowledgment of the political reality that an eighth attempt, at his age, was always going to be discussed in these terms regardless of what he said.
Wahala Network Take
Whatever the motivation behind the timing, there’s something undeniably significant about a politician who’s spent almost thirty years chasing one office finally putting a hard stop on the pursuit. Whether 2027 ends in victory or yet another defeat, Atiku has now made it clear: this really is the final chapter of that particular ambition.
