2027: Atiku Never Learns, Another Defeat Defeat Awaits If He Runs – Onanuga

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has told former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to bury any thought of contesting the 2027 presidential election.

Onanuga said Atiku risks another spectacular defeat at the polls if he ignores the country’s long-standing North-South power rotation arrangement. He described the former vice president’s latest comments as self-serving and warned that history would repeat itself.

The presidential aide was reacting to Atiku’s interview with Charles Aniagolu on Arise News Channel on Wednesday. In the session, Atiku argued he is not bound by zoning because the South has spent more years in office than the North since the return to democracy in 1999.

Onanuga dismissed the claim as dubious political arithmetic. He reminded Nigerians that the North’s shorter tenure resulted from the untimely death of President Umaru Yar’Adua, which paved the way for Goodluck Jonathan’s accidental succession.

This breach, the presidential spokesman stressed, does not invalidate the power rotation pact that has helped stabilise Nigeria’s democracy for over two decades. With former President Muhammadu Buhari completing eight years in office, Onanuga insisted it remains the South’s turn for President Tinubu to serve his full term.

The Special Adviser recalled how Atiku’s 2023 ambition fractured the Peoples Democratic Party. As a northerner seeking to succeed another northerner in Buhari, the move led to his resounding defeat, a mistake Onanuga said the perennial candidate now appears set to repeat.

Onanuga urged Atiku to abandon the idea of running again. He said the former vice president, who some now link to the African Democratic Congress, should respect the zoning formula that has guided major parties since 1999.

NaijaChoice News reports that the sharp exchange has once again thrown the debate on power rotation into the national spotlight as parties prepare for the 2027 polls. Political watchers say the controversy underscores the tension between personal ambition and the informal arrangements that have sustained democratic stability in Africa’s most populous nation.