2027: Atiku Rejects Presidential Ticket Zoning To South

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned opposition figures against restricting the 2027 presidential ticket to the South, cautioning that doing so could hand President Bola Tinubu a straightforward route to victory at the polls.

In a statement issued by his camp, Atiku argued that presenting another southern candidate against a sitting southern president lacks political strategy and has no historical precedent in Nigeria’s democratic experience.

According to the statement, opposition parties must focus on building a formidable coalition capable of defeating the incumbent rather than making what it described as sentimental or symbolic decisions.

Atiku’s camp questioned the viability of a southern opposition candidate unseating a southern incumbent president.

“At the core of the question is: how does a Southern opposition candidate realistically unseat a sitting Southern president?” the statement read.

“Nigerian political history offers no precedent for such an outcome. To insist otherwise is to enter the contest already defeated.”

The statement suggested that if the opposition insists on zoning the presidency to the South, it may as well allow Tinubu seek another term without fielding a rival candidate from the same region.

According to Atiku’s camp, the strategy lacks the political strength and national appeal required to dislodge an incumbent president.

The former vice president’s camp also criticised proponents of southern zoning, describing the agitation as “intellectually dishonest” and disconnected from present political realities.

“Defeating an incumbent president requires realism, not romanticism; strategy, not sentiment; honesty, not selective memory,” the statement added.

It further urged opposition leaders to decide whether their priority was making symbolic political statements or genuinely winning power in 2027.

The statement stressed that opposition politics should be guided by electoral calculations and national coalition-building rather than emotional considerations.