Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has rejected suggestions that the outcome of the 2027 presidential election is already settled, insisting that the power to determine Nigeria’s next president rests solely with voters.
Atiku, a presidential hopeful on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the position while reacting to a recent declaration by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, that there would be “no vacancy” in Aso Rock in 2027.
The monarch made the comment when the APC Presidential Campaign Council, led by its Director-General, Abdulaziz Yari, visited his palace in Lagos, a statement widely interpreted as support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
But Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication in a statement shared on X, challenged the suggestion that the presidency could be politically predetermined by traditional authorities.
He argued that while the Oba was entitled to express his personal preference for Tinubu, such a position could not be presented as the verdict of millions of Nigerians who will participate in the 2027 election.
Atiku said the presidency was a constitutional office decided through elections, stressing that Aso Rock should not be treated as a traditional institution where succession could be settled through endorsement or declaration.
He further pointed to the economic and security difficulties confronting Nigerians, including hunger, insecurity and the rising cost of living, saying such realities would influence voters when they eventually go to the polls.
“Nigerians will have the final say when they cast their ballots,” Atiku said, maintaining that the 2027 outcome would be determined by voters rather than “kings, courtiers or political campaign councils.”
The former vice president consequently framed the coming contest as a test of democratic choice, insisting that regardless of endorsements already being made, the ultimate decision on who occupies Aso Rock after the 2027 election belongs to the Nigerian electorate.
