Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has officially declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election, stressing that his ambition is driven by the urgent need to “rescue Nigeria” from its worsening challenges.
Atiku, a former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the declaration from his residence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he is currently on holiday.
According to him, the state of the nation has reached a critical point, with citizens experiencing rising poverty, hardship, corruption, and a lack of accountability.
“I will run in 2027. Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the intensive care unit it has been consigned. The degeneration in our country, the level of poverty and pain, the anguish, is unacceptable,” Atiku said.
The PDP stalwart lamented what he described as the loss of national values and “mega-scale, unimpeded thievery” in governance. He added that his mission is to lead a process of national reconstruction and restore hope to millions of Nigerians.
“The accompanying deceit, the loss of values, the mega-scale, unimpeded thievery and the absolute lack of accountability must disturb every concerned patriot. I will be offering myself to lead the reclamation and reconstruction of our traumatised homeland,” he added.
Atiku’s declaration puts an end to speculation that he might have withdrawn from electoral politics following comments made by Prof. Ola Olateju of Achievers University, who suggested that Atiku was no longer interested in pursuing the presidency. The former vice president quickly dismissed those claims, clarifying that the remarks were unauthorized and did not represent his position.
Having contested for the nation’s highest office multiple times, Atiku reiterated that his passion for Nigeria’s development remains strong. He described the 2027 general elections as another chance to provide the visionary leadership that Nigerians urgently need.
With this announcement, political observers say the coming election season is set to be keenly contested, with Atiku once again emerging as a major contender in Nigeria’s presidential race.
