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Nigeria’s Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has revealed that he would not contest for the presidency after the 2027 elections. The former vice president disclosed this during an interview on Arise News on Wednesday.
“Certainly yes, because the stakes are higher, because I believe that will be my last outing,” said Atiku.
Atiku has had one of the longest presidential ambitions since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 and the beginning of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. He has consistently positioned himself as a major contender in the country’s presidential elections since the return to civilian rule in 1999, but has lost on numerous occasions.
When asked why Nigerians should elect him to power in 2027, Atiku opined that his expectations of young leadership are lower than he expected, and that they require tutelage from the older generation.
“I represent both the past and the future simply because we have seen various levels of leadership in the country, both young and old, and we’re experiencing them, and I still believe that our expectations of the young leadership [sic] is below what we thought,” said Atiku.
“And we believe, I personally believe, they require experience, and they require tutelage from the older generation.”
After his tenure as Vice President ended, Atiku made his first formal presidential run in 2007 under the Action Congress (AC) after a political fallout with then-President Obasanjo. In that election, he finished third, behind Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2014, he joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contested the party’s presidential primary ahead of the 2015 election. He lost the nomination to Muhammadu Buhari, who later won the general election. Following this defeat, Atiku left the APC and rejoined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), where he had previously served as Vice President.
He became the PDP presidential candidate in 2019, contesting against incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, but lost in the general election.
He tried again in 2023 as the PDP candidate, facing Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, but was again unsuccessful.
In 2025, he defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a coalition that vows to unseat President Tinubu in 2027.
