Ex-Air Chief Sadique Abubakar dumps politics, says goodbye to ‘murky waters’
Former Chief of Air Staff and former Bauchi APC governorship candidate, Sadique Abubakar, has announced his withdrawal from active politics, ending months of speculation about his possible involvement in the 2027 governorship race in Bauchi State.
Abubakar made the announcement on Sunday in a brief statement posted on his official X account, declaring that he was leaving what he described as “the murky waters of Nigerian politics.”
“I no longer belong to any political party and will therefore not vie for any office,” he wrote.
The retired air marshal added that although he was stepping away from partisan politics, he would continue supporting ordinary Nigerians “to the best of my ability.”
Abubakar served as Nigeria’s Chief of Air Staff from 2015 to 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari. Following his retirement from the Nigerian Air Force, he was appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to Chad before venturing into politics.
In 2022, he emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 Bauchi governorship election. He, however, lost to incumbent governor Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 525,280 votes against Abubakar’s 432,272 votes.
The former military chief had recently been linked with possible plans to contest the 2027 governorship election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) after consultations involving former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and other opposition coalition figures.
Abubakar had resigned from the APC and joined the ADC in July 2025 amid growing realignments within the opposition bloc ahead of the next general elections.
