I’m not going away, Atiku says, ahead of 2027 election

Atiku Abubakar says he will remain politically active after last week’s Supreme Court judgement on the 2023 presidential election, an indication he could contest election again.

“As for me and my party this phase of our work is done. However, I am not going away,” Abubakar, who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Feb. 25 election, told journalists Monday.

Abubakar has contested for the top job at five times, and his comments may indicate another attempt in 2027, although the former vice president said the future struggle should be led by “younger generation of Nigerians.”

“For as long as I breathe, I will continue to struggle, with other Nigerians, to deepen our democracy and rule of law and for the kind of political and economic restructuring the country needs to reach its true potential. That struggle should now be led by the younger generation of Nigerians who have even more at stake than my generation,” he said.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu, putting an end to a legal challenge brought by his two main rivals, Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

In the official results of the poll announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Abubakar and Obi came second and third respectively.

The duo had contested the results, citing irregularities that marred the polls. Multiple investigations have since shown that the elections were in some areas fraudulent. Reports by Premium Times and BBC, for instance, showed that while the Labour Party won in Rivers state, INEC declared Tinubu’s APC as winner.

The Supreme Court’s position was eagerly awaited, in part because the PDP team had presented new evidence showing the Tinubu’s university certificated to INEC was not issued by Chicago State University as he claimed.

Court ruling

Abubakar criticised the Supreme Court ruling and the said there were clear indications the judiciary and the electoral body, INEC, were corrupt and compromised.

“Even the rebuke by retired Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad is a confirmation from within the apex court that all is not well with the Supreme Court,” he said.

“The alarm raised by Justice Muhammad and recently, former INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, offer Nigerians an explanation into why the electoral and judicial system have become the lost hope of the common man.

“Judges are no longer appointed based on merit but are products of the interplay of politics and nepotism. Worse still, the appointment of electoral officials has also been hijacked by the ruling party as seen in the latest nomination of Resident Electoral Commissioners where card carrying members of the ruling party and aides to politicians in the APC are being appointed into INEC. When two critical institutions like the court and the electoral commission are trapped in an evil web of political machination, it becomes next to impossible for democracy to thrive.”