Calls for Atiku to serve as statesman while endorsing South-East/North ticket strategy
Bashir El-Rufai, son of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, has indicated that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) will not field former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate in the 2027 general election.
The statement came on Thursday via X, where Bashir responded to a user who suggested that choosing Atiku as the party’s candidate would lead to a decisive loss.
El-Rufai suggested that Atiku should instead take on the role of a “statesman and political godfather” during what he described as a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s history.
“It won’t be Atiku. I believe Atiku should be the statesman and the Godfather of this historic changing precipice of our nation,” he wrote.
He further revealed his preferred electoral strategy for the ADC, advocating for a pairing of a popular candidate from the South-East with a strong, widely accepted Northern figure, arguing that this approach would be difficult for opponents to counter.
“They are easily defeated by my calculus with that strategy,” Bashir El-Rufai stated.
