Rivals fiercely reject Atiku’s push to shift 2027 presidential ticket northward

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s claim that only a northern opposition candidate can defeat President Tinubu in 2027 has triggered sharp pushback from major opposition parties and pressure groups who insist the presidency should remain in the South.

Nigeria’s opposition bloc is showing early signs of fracture — and the election is still over a year away.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar fired the opening shot last week, arguing through his media aide that fielding a southern opposition candidate against a sitting southern president would be political suicide. His camp pointed to history, insisting no incumbent has ever been defeated by a challenger from the same geopolitical bloc.

The reaction was swift and largely hostile.

Parties including the Labour Party, APGA, YPP, SDP, NNPP, NDC, and both the Kwankwasiyya and Obidient Movements pushed back hard, defending the informal North-South power rotation that has shaped Nigerian politics since 1999.

The Kwankwasiyya Movement’s spokesman didn’t mince words: “That statement is insulting. It is like saying there is no qualified person other than yourself in all the states in the South.”

The Labour Party went further, challenging Atiku’s electoral math directly. As LP’s Ken Asogwa noted, “The combined votes of the two northern candidates in that election — Atiku (6.9m votes) and Kwankwaso (1.4m votes) — were still less than what one southern candidate — Tinubu (8.7m votes) — got.”

Others argued that competence, not geography, should drive the conversation. YPP’s Wale Egbeola-Martins put it plainly: “When an individual is critically ill, he does not ask for a doctor from his tribe or region but seeks the most competent doctor capable of saving his life.”

With Peter Obi and Kwankwaso now regrouping under the NDC banner, the opposition’s path to unity in 2027 looks anything but straightforward.

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