FORMER Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, officially joined the African Democratic Congress, ADC, the coalition-backed party he has aligned with ahead of the 2027 elections.

Coming exactly 130 days he resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, a party on which platform he unsuccessfully ran for the presidency twice, ADC is the sixth party he would be joining in 38 years.

Having lost the presidency at younger ages multiple times, Atiku, who turned 79 years on November 25, will be 81 in 2027, causing pundits to wonder if he would get it right and realise his dream as an octogenarian.

Ending APC’s misrule

Atiku, who registered as a member of the ADC at his Jada 1 Ward, Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State, said it was “the beginning of moves marking a decisive national rescue mission aimed at ending the misrule of the All Progressives Congress, APC.”

According to him, his official entry into the ADC signaled the start of a strategic political realignment to unseat the APC, adding that Nigeria was facing an unprecedented governance and leadership crisis that had reached a tipping point

Atiku boasted that his registration marked the beginning of a coordinated effort to rescue Nigeria from the rudderless leadership that has brought the country to the brink. He said that APC’s ineffectual leadership had exposed Nigeria to dangers that put the citizenry at the receiving end of existential crises threatening to consume the world’s largest black nation.

He urged Nigerians to rise above ethnic and religious sentiments and join “a national vanguard” dedicated to restoring stability, prosperity, and good governance.

Atiku can’t fix Nigeria – Oshiomhole

Pooh-poohing Atiku’s move, former National Chairman of the APC, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, said the former vice president lacked the capacity to lead Nigeria because he could not build the PDP.

“If Atiku, as a former vice president under PDP could not fix the PDP, he could not reconstruct it, he could not provide leadership and use his influence which he had built, how can you lay claim to fix Nigeria?” Oshiomhole asked on a Channels TV programme.

Oshiomhole’s weaponising noise to mask APC’s failures – Atiku

However, in a counter, Atiku accused Oshiomhole of “weaponizing noise to mask the catastrophic failures” of the APC.

In a statement signed by Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, the ex-VP said Oshiomhole had no moral standing to question his leadership credentials, and advised Oshiomhole to “check the mirror before speaking.”

Shaibu argued that Oshiomhole was attempting to distract Nigerians from “the monumental failures of the APC, the very party he helped foist on Nigeria, and the same party that has driven the country to its worst state in decades.”

Dismissing Oshiomhole’s remarks as “a tired distraction,” Shaibu said that Atiku, as Vice President, was neither national chairman of the PDP nor a dictator presiding over a one-man political empire, adding, unlike the APC, the PDP was never run as a “private estate controlled from Bourdillon,” and that Atiku operated within a democratic institution where decisions were not “tele-guided by one individual.”

“If Oshiomhole seeks the man who ‘fixed a party’ into a personal empire, he needs only look at the godfather he serves. Under the APC, party supremacy died, dissent was criminalised, and institutions of state became partisan weapons. That is the only kind of ‘fixing’ Oshiomhole understands. Oshiomhole represents the failure of a party that betrayed the hopes of millions. He should sit this one out,” he stated.

How far can Atiku go?

For many people, Atiku is easily remembered as former vice president and 2023 presidential candidate of the PDP but the political odyssey of the retired Customs officer predated 1999 when he became Vice President. It stretches back into the turbulent transition years of the early 1990s. Even before 1992, Atiku had cut his political teeth.

After serving for two decades in the Nigeria Customs Service, he began to align himself with key figures of the People’s Front of Nigeria, PFN, a political movement steered by late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

By 1989, he was National Vice-Chairman of the PFN and a delegate to the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution.

In the run-up to Nigeria’s ill-fated Third Republic, Atiku contested in the Social Democratic Party, SDP presidential primaries but was prevailed upon by Musa yar’Adua to step down for late Chief MKO Abiola mid-way This early setback did not deter him; instead, it reinforced his resolve to navigate Nigeria’s treacherous political terrain.

PDP sojourn

With the return of democracy in the late 1990s, Atiku played a central role in building what would become the PDP). By 1998, he had won the governorship election in Adamawa State under the PDP platform.

But before he could assume the governor’s seat, a twist came: General Olusegun Obasanjo, the PDP presidential candidate, chose Atiku as his running mate. The pair won, and on May 29 1999, Atiku was sworn in as vice president, marking a critical chapter in his political journey.

As Vice President, Atiku exercised significant influence. He was appointed Chairman of the National Council on Privatization, and under his stewardship, Nigeria saw aggressive privatization of state-owned enterprises.These reforms left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s economic landscape.

However, his relationship with President Obasanjo soured. In the run-up to the 2003 presidential primaries of the PDP, Atiku had the support of most governors to pick the ticket but after much pressure, he buckled and the way was paved for Obasanjo to pick re-election ticket and eventually won a second term.

By 2006, clashes over constitutional amendments (including a controversial third-term bid for Obasanjo) had driven a wedge between them. That rift would soon trigger a dramatic shift in Atiku’s political alignment.

Atiku’s first defection

In 2006, Atiku made his first major political defection. He left the PDP for the Action Congress, AC, positioning himself as presidential candidate for the 2007 election. His decision was widely seen as a direct consequence of his rift with Obasanjo and frustration within the PDP.

He contested in 2007 under the AC banner but failed to clinch victory. The defeat, however, did not mark the end of his ambitions.

Return to PDP

After just a few years with the AC, Atiku went back to the PDP in 2009. He immediately resumed his quest for the presidency. In2011, he sought the PDP ticket but lost to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.

Defection to APC

In 2014, he left with a camp of PDP leaders known as n-PDP for the APC. He sought the party’s presidential ticket but lost to late Major General Muhammadu Buhari, retd, who went on to beat incumbent President Jonathan at the poll, marking the end of PDP’s 16 years reign at Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

Second return to PDP

Before 2019, Atiku returned to the PDP and emerged as the party’s presidential candidate but was defeated by Buhari in the general election.

Through these cycles, he developed a reputation as a tenacious political warrior, never far from the centre of power despite repeated setbacks.

Latest move to ADC

Atiku’s latest resignation is the third time he would be leaving the PDP and the fifth time he changed party platforms since 1999.

In July 2025, he resigned from the PDP once again – this time citing “irreconcilable differences” with the party’s trajectory. He aligned himself with a new opposition coalition built around the ADC, a strategic move seen by many as part of his long-term bid to shape Nigeria’s future.

Whether or not he will rescue Nigeria from the APC, using the ADC, as he boasted is a question of time. (VANGUARD)

Update news