2027: Atiku And The Desperate Last Dance
By Hon. Seye Oladejo, Lagos APC Spokesman
26 September 2026
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s declaration that the 2027 presidential election will be his “last attempt” at the presidency has brought his latest political ambition into sharper focus.
After decades of seeking Nigeria’s highest office, Atiku is approaching what he describes as his final presidential outing. That declaration raises a fundamental question: Is his 2027 campaign driven by a compelling national agenda or the urgency of fulfilling a lifelong personal ambition?
There is nothing wrong with ambition or contesting elections. But Nigerians have every right to examine the policies, record and political alliances behind a candidate’s final bid for power.
THE IMAGE-LAUNDERING OPERATION
One of the most striking developments in Atiku’s 2027 campaign is the appointment of Kenneth Okonkwo as his spokesperson.
Mr. Okonkwo is entitled to change his political allegiance, just as Nigerians are entitled to change their minds. His political journey, however, presents an irony that deserves public attention.
In 2023, while serving as a spokesperson for Peter Obi’s Labour Party campaign, Okonkwo publicly criticised Atiku. By 2026, he had become the official spokesperson for Atiku’s 2027 presidential campaign.
This dramatic political turnaround raises questions about the campaign’s communications strategy. Is it primarily intended to communicate policy, or is it also designed to reshape public perceptions of a candidate whose political history remains part of the national record?
The reported engagement of a Washington-based lobbying firm adds another dimension. A U.S. Department of Justice filing reportedly described efforts to improve Atiku’s standing among American policymakers and counter narratives from the Nigerian government.
From international lobbying to domestic messaging, the campaign appears to be placing considerable emphasis on managing its political narrative.
But public relations cannot substitute for a record. No amount of image management can erase history, and no communications strategy can permanently resolve contradictions in policy positions.
THE OBASANJO ALBATROSS
Atiku’s eight years as Vice President under President Olusegun Obasanjo remain central to any serious examination of his political experience.
Serving from 1999 to 2007, Atiku held significant responsibilities, including leadership of the National Council on Privatisation and involvement in economic policy. His tenure was overshadowed by a bitter political rupture with his principal, culminating in acrimonious battles during Obasanjo’s second term.
In My Watch, Obasanjo offered a highly critical account of their relationship, including allegations of disloyalty and poor judgement. Those were Obasanjo’s assessments, not judicial findings, but they remain part of the historical record.
The controversies surrounding the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, privatisation and Atiku’s eventual confrontation with his principal deserve examination alongside his claims of experience and competence.
In August 2026, Obasanjo reportedly again described his 1999 decision to select Atiku as his running mate as the “biggest mistake” of his presidency. That statement demonstrates that the old political rupture continues to feature in public discourse.
Atiku cannot ask Nigerians to celebrate his long experience in government while expecting them to forget the controversies and institutional battles that accompanied it.
Experience is not merely the number of years spent in office. It is also the record those years leave behind.
FROM SUBSIDY REMOVAL TO “I WILL RESTORE IT!”
Perhaps nowhere is the attempt to create a fresh political narrative more evident than in Atiku’s position on petrol subsidy.
During the 2023 campaign, Atiku argued that petrol subsidy was unsustainable and pledged to complete its removal if elected. In 2026, he is declaring emphatically: “I will restore it!”
The political appeal is understandable. Nigerians are confronting economic pressures, rising transport costs and reduced household purchasing power. Any promise of cheaper fuel and transportation will attract attention.
But governance is not a popularity contest.
The central question is how lower fuel prices can be achieved sustainably without recreating the fiscal leakages, smuggling incentives and opaque practices associated with the former subsidy regime.
Atiku therefore owes Nigerians more than attractive slogans. He owes them the arithmetic.
Where will the money come from? How much will government spend? Who qualifies? For how long? How will the scheme operate within the Petroleum Industry Act? What safeguards will prevent corruption and arbitrage? And what happens when the intervention becomes financially or politically difficult to sustain?
These are governance questions, not campaign slogans.
POPULISM IS NOT POLICY
There is a fundamental difference between acknowledging genuine hardship and presenting a sustainable solution to it.
The hardship is real. The policy questions are equally real.
Promising to reverse difficult reforms because they have become unpopular does not, by itself, constitute a comprehensive economic alternative.
Atiku’s proposed return to subsidy requires a transparent explanation of its fiscal implications, implementation mechanism and long-term sustainability.
A presidential campaign cannot run on nostalgia for cheaper petrol without explaining who will pay the bill.
RUNNING DOWN TINUBU IS NOT A DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
Another noticeable feature of the Atiku campaign is its intense focus on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Opposition politicians are expected to scrutinise the government. That is part of democracy.
But opposition to a person must ultimately give way to proposition for a country.
Nigerians deserve to know what Atiku intends to build, not merely what he intends to attack. They deserve specific proposals on the economy, security, industrialisation, education, healthcare, infrastructure and institutional reform.
The presidency should not be reduced to a referendum on Bola Tinubu’s personality.
A NEW PLATFORM DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEAN A NEW POLITICAL IDEA
Atiku’s journey to 2027 has taken him from the PDP to the African Democratic Congress, where he now heads a ticket with former Rivers State Governor and former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi.
But changing political platforms does not automatically amount to changing political ideas.
Nigeria has witnessed numerous political realignments, and new party labels do not necessarily produce new solutions.
The electorate must interrogate the substance beneath the branding.
What has changed? What has been learnt? What is genuinely different? And why should Nigerians expect a fundamentally different outcome from the same political establishment operating under another party platform?
THE LAST DANCE CANNOT BECOME NIGERIA’S NATIONAL AGENDA
Atiku may call 2027 his last dance. Nigeria, however, cannot afford to make the election about one man’s final opportunity.
The presidency of Nigeria is not a consolation prize for political longevity or a lifetime achievement award. The country’s economic and security challenges demand more than slogans, image management and convenient policy reversals.
Atiku’s final presidential attempt should be subjected to the same standard as every other political project:
Show us the plan. Show us the numbers. Show us the record. Show us what is different.
The APC will defend its record and agenda before Nigerians. The opposition is free to challenge the government, and Nigerians are equally free to ask hard questions.
For Atiku, the most important question in 2027 may ultimately be simple:
Is this truly a new national project—or simply an old presidential ambition having one last dance?
