Presidency, Wike Knock Atiku Over 2027 Presidential Ambition Remarks

By Jonathan Nda-Isaiah and Chibuzo Ukaibe, Abuja

The Presidency and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar engaged in a war of words yesterday over the latter’s presidential bid in 2027.

The controversy began after the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, declared that President Bola Tinubu ought to complete two terms in office in line with the North–South power rotation arrangement.

Onanuga, who made the remark while reacting to Atiku’s interview on Arise TV, argued that the South should retain power until 2031.

But the former vice president hit back at the Presidency, warning that he would not be bullied out of the presidential race.

Atiku, in a statement by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, faulted the Presidency’s position, stressing that it is unconstitutional and undermines democratic choice.

LEADERSHIP Friday reports that while the power rotation arrangement between the North and South geopolitical regions has remained a key consideration in how political parties choose candidates, it is not recognised in the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees every eligible Nigerian the right to seek any political office.

Zoning, as it is popularly called, was a major crisis point in the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which led to its loss of power at the centre in 2015 and hampered its return in 2023.

The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has also adopted the power-sharing arrangement between the North and South, which saw President Bola Tinubu from the South take over power from the late President Muhammadu Buhari after he completed his two terms of eight years.

However, reacting to Atiku’s comments, Onanuga, in a post on his X handle, described the former vice president’s position as self-serving and based on what he called a flawed interpretation of the North–South zoning principle.

Onanuga said Atiku, in 2023 as a PDP member, disregarded the party’s zoning arrangement by seeking to succeed a fellow northerner, noting that the move contributed to the internal crisis that affected the party’s performance in the election.

He also rejected Atiku’s claim that the South had spent more years in office than the North since 1999, stating that the North’s shorter tenure was due to the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua while in office.

According to him, the succession that followed did not invalidate the power rotation arrangement, describing it as an “accidental breach” rather than a deliberate shift.

Onanuga maintained that since former President Muhammadu Buhari completed eight years in office, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should also complete his two-term tenure under the existing arrangement.

He said Atiku should “bury the thought of running again,” insisting that it remains the South’s turn in the 2027 election.

Atiku had, in an interview, reiterated his position that he was not bound by the zoning formula, arguing that the distribution of power since 1999 supports his stance.

However, the Presidency insisted that the position ignores the established political understanding guiding power rotation in the country.

Corroborating Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media and Communications, Sunday Dare, also said Atiku’s presidential ambition is “dead on arrival.”

Dare, in a post on his X handle, described Atiku’s outing as a poor showing, arguing that it lacked leadership, vision and readiness for office.

He said the interview reflected what he characterised as a lack of substance on matters of national importance, adding that Atiku failed to present a clear policy direction or credible alternative.

Dare further stated that criticism of ongoing reforms without offering solutions does not amount to leadership but rather opposition without substance.

He also faulted the tone of the interview, saying it did not convey unity or coalition-building but instead reflected grievances.

According to him, leadership requires clarity, discipline and a unifying vision, which he said were not evident in the former vice president’s remarks.

Dare added that Atiku was not being denied relevance but was “losing it—publicly, steadily, and now unmistakably.”

Atiku a Serial Election Loser Who Will Still Contest in 2031, Says Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, also joined the conversation, describing Atiku as a serial election contestant and loser who will likely run for office again in 2031.

LEADERSHIP Friday recalls that Wike, as Rivers State governor in 2023, along with four other PDP governors, worked against Atiku’s 2023 ambition, citing, among others, a failure to allow zoning of the presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria.

Speaking yesterday during an inspection tour of ongoing road projects in Abuja, the minister argued that Nigerians would dismiss such criticism, pointing to visible developments across the FCT as proof to the contrary.

“Atiku is a serial failure. He is a serial contestant and loser, and I am sure that in 2031, he will still contest. Nigerians would be laughing at such a person making that kind of statement that nothing positive has been done,” Wike said.

He challenged Atiku to compare the state of Abuja during his time as vice president with what exists today.

“Let him compare the FCT now and when he was Vice President. Can he honestly say what we have now is the same as then?” Wike said.

He maintained that the administration would not be distracted by political attacks, stressing that governance must continue regardless of the election season.

“The election will come, but people must work. Contractors are not part of the election,” he said.

The minister also dismissed allegations by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) that the FCT Administration attempted to frustrate its convention by targeting the Rainbow Event Centre.

“I don’t even know where that place is. There was no interference from anybody. These people should just stop looking for sympathy,” he said.

He challenged the party to produce evidence of any correspondence with the office responsible for the management of Eagle Square, insisting that due process was not followed.

I Don’t Need Presidency’s Permission, Won’t Be Bullied Out of Contest – Atiku

In his reaction, Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, accused the Presidency of attempting to silence opposition voices and distort democratic principles.

In a statement shared on social media, Shaibu said: “No presidential aide, no matter how loud or reckless, has the authority to rewrite the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or reduce democracy to a regional entitlement scheme.”

He stressed that zoning was not legally binding.

“Power rotation is a political convention, not a constitutional decree and certainly not a tool to silence credible opposition,” he said.

Shaibu further described the claim that Tinubu must complete eight years as anti-democratic.

“The notion that President Tinubu ‘must complete eight years’ is the most anti-democratic statement anyone can make in a constitutional republic. Presidents are not crowned for eight years—they are elected, and they can be voted out.”

Dismissing any suggestion that Atiku requires approval to contest, he added: “Atiku does not need your permission to run. He does not need validation from aides who confuse loyalty with noise.”

He also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of hypocrisy, alleging that the party had previously abandoned zoning when it suited its political interests.

On the 2023 election and current political climate, Shaibu said: “The 2023 election was not lost because of zoning. It was lost through a toxic cocktail of state-backed interference, institutional compromise, and electoral irregularities that Nigerians have not forgotten.”

He also dismissed claims of division within the opposition, including references to Peter Obi, saying:

“You don’t dictate who joins or leaves a coalition—you only expose your fear when you try.”

Shaibu concluded by emphasising that the Nigerian electorate—not political aides—will determine the outcome of the 2027 election.

“Come 2027, it will not be aides, nor propaganda, nor recycled talking points that decide Nigeria’s future; it will be the Nigerian people.”

Replying to the FCT minister, Atiku’s aide described his remarks as flippant and a crude assault on the very principles of democracy he swore to uphold.

Shaibu told LEADERSHIP Friday that Wike’s labelling of Atiku as a “serial loser” for repeatedly offering himself for election is the language of intolerance, not leadership.

“Democracy is not a one-shot affair where citizens are permitted to aspire only once. It is an open contest of ideas and vision—one that thrives on participation, not the silencing of opponents through cheap ridicule.

“What Wike has exposed is not Atiku’s record, but his own discomfort with political consistency. It takes conviction to keep returning to the people; it takes courage to subject oneself to the electorate time and again. Those who lack that stamina often resort to derision as a substitute for substance.”

He noted that the desperation embedded in the minister’s fixation with the 2031 election was troubling.

“When a public official begins to speculate obsessively about an opponent’s future, it signals anxiety—not confidence. It betrays a fear of relevance, a fear of endurance, and, above all, a fear of a political figure who refuses to be erased.”

While he noted that contesting elections is not failure, he stressed that Wike may find comfort in the sound of his own voice, but that Nigerians are not deceived by noise.

“They recognise the difference between a man who stands repeatedly before them to seek a mandate, and those who hide behind insults because they have no argument left to make.

“If Wike cannot engage Atiku on issues, he should at least have the discipline to refrain from debasing public discourse. What he has offered is not a critique but a confession of intellectual bankruptcy,” he said.