2027: Atiku’s Running Mate Unlikely To Swing South-East, South-West Votes – APC Chieftain

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sogbeye Eli, has declared that former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, is unlikely to gain significant votes from the South-East and South-West geopolitical zones even if he picks a running mate from either region.

Eli, a legal practitioner and former spokesperson for the APC 2023 governorship campaign council in Rivers State, made the declaration in a statement posted on his verfied social media accounts

He argued that it would be difficult for the predominantly Igbo and Yoruba populations in the South-East and South-West to abandon the presidential candidates of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, and the APC, President Bola Tinubu, merely because of a vice-presidential slot.

The APC chieftain further stated that such a move makes little political, electoral, or tactical sense against an incumbent president or against Obi, whom he described as having an exceptional following, particularly in the South-East.

Eli wrote: “Secondly, Atiku has no room for votes from a vice-presidential candidate from both the South-East and South-West.

The predominant Igbo and Yoruba populations in the South-East and South-West respectively will not and cannot abandon the presidential candidates of the Nigeria Democratic Congress and All Progressives Congress for a vice-presidential slot.

“It makes no political, electoral or tactical sense to take such a risk against incumbent President Tinubu or Peter Obi with his unbelievable following, particularly in the South-East.”

He stated that it was no fluke that former Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, came second at the APC 2022 presidential primary in a field that included the sitting Vice President, Senate President, governors and ministers, noting that the former Rivers State governor brings what he described as a South-South neutral credential.

“The debate over who should go on the joint presidential ticket with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the 2027 general elections should not even arise and the reasons are not far-fetched.

“First, Amaechi is not in the APC today because he opposed what he described as a lack of inclusion and sensitivity to Nigeria’s multi-religious character in the party’s 2023 presidential ticket.

“Recall that the same quest to have Bola Ahmed Tinubu deputise Muhammadu Buhari on a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2015 led to objections, which resulted in the incumbent President nominating Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a Christian from the South, as Buhari’s running mate.

“The scenario of widespread disenchantment within the Nigerian Christian community over the Tinubu/Kashim Shettima ticket has not changed completely.

“Consequently, a more liberal Muslim Atiku has to demonstrate sensitivity to Nigerian Christians in balancing the ticket.

“Besides coming second in the recent ADC presidential primary, which he said proves his APC 2022 performance was no fluke, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi comes with a South-South neutral credential.

“There is no South-South candidate in the 2027 race to command a division of votes for the ADC ticket per se. If President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had joined the race, the political calculation in the South-South would be completely different.

“A consideration of other political statistics in Amaechi’s profile places him ahead in terms of the value his emergence as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate would bring to the ticket. He is the sure bet for VP to Atiku Abubakar under the circumstances,” Eli said.