I am not stepping down my presidential ambition for anyone – Atiku

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has declared that no presidential aspirant within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) will be pressured or compelled to withdraw from the party’s race ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In a statement issued Tuesday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku dismissed reports suggesting he was under pressure to step aside in favour of a southern candidate, insisting that the ADC would conduct an open and competitive selection process.

He accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to undermine and intimidate the opposition, alleging that external forces aligned with the presidency were seeking to destabilise the ADC ahead of the next election cycle.

According to the statement, opposition leaders had converged on the ADC to build what he described as a credible national alternative capable of rescuing the country from poor governance.

“Agents aligned with the presidency are now attempting to destabilise the ADC from the outside by issuing reckless prescriptions about its internal affairs, particularly the choice of a presidential candidate,” the statement said.

Atiku maintained that the ADC is committed to transparency, inclusiveness, and internal democracy, stressing that all qualified aspirants would be allowed to contest freely when the party formally begins its nomination process.

“The ADC is on a national rescue mission,” the statement read, adding that calls for Atiku or any other aspirant to step aside amounted to undermining democratic choice and strengthening authoritarian tendencies.

Reiterating that no one in the party would withdraw from the race, Atiku argued that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should instead step aside, describing his administration as a “national liability.”