By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said he would not be running for the presidency again after the 2027 general election, noting that the forthcoming election will be his last outing.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, stated his position during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday evening.
The former vice president stressed that, considering that he will be turning 80 years old by 2027, the stakes are higher for him.
“Certainly yes, because the stakes are higher, and I believe that will be my last outing,” he said.
Atiku’s statement follows a 2024 comment in which he stated that he would continue to contest for the presidency as long as he remains healthy.
“Of course, I will keep contesting again and again as long as I am alive and healthy,” Abubakar said.
The chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) emphasised that young Nigerians aspiring to power should first learn from older leaders and gain experience.
He said, “We have seen various levels of leadership in the country, both young and old, and I still believe our expectations of young leadership are below what we thought.
“I believe that young people require experience and tutelage from the older generation.”
ALSO READ: No presidential aspirant will step down under ADC, says Atiku
Atiku has run for the presidency six times since returning to partisan politics and has been on the ballot as a presidential candidate on three occasions, which were in 2007, 2019, and 2023.
He first contested the presidency in 1993 under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) primaries before stepping down for the late Moshood Abiola.
At the expiration of his tenure as vice president under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Atiku contested the presidency in 2007 under the Action Congress, but lost to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of the PDP.
Again, he contested the number one position in 2011 under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and lost to former President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP.
He joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) and lost at the party’s primaries to former President Muhammadu Buhari, who later won the 2015 election.
Atiku later returned to the PDP and contested the 2019 presidential election, where he lost to former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.
The former vice president also emerged as the PDP presidential candidate in 2023 but lost to President Bola Tinubu of the APC.
Ahead of the 2027 general election and political alignments, Atiku defected to the ADC in 2025 alongside other opposition bigwigs united by the shared goal of unseating Tinubu in 2027.
