Barring any last-minute change of formation, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has succeeded in setting up a possible ‘AA’ ticket on the presidential ballot of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) by picking former Transportation Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, as his running mate.

Also, yesterday, he declared that the actions by the Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration contradicted the spirit, sacrifice and legacy of June 12.

Coming after weeks of rigorous negotiations within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition platform, which was threatened by post-primary recriminations, the choice of Amaechi comes as a bold counter to the OK ticket pairing of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso on the rival NDC for the January 16, 2027, presidential election.

By settling for Amaechi, Atiku seems to have decided to do what he failed to do in the lead-up to the 2023 election cycle, when he refused to accept former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, who emerged as the first runner-up in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary.

While the duo of the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Obi, and his New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) counterpart, Kwankwaso, joined the ADC, speculations were rife that the party had a predetermined plan to have Atiku run with the former transportation minister to achieve a North-East/South-South balance on the party’s presidential ballot.

But contrary to those conjectures, Amaechi, shortly after he filled and returned his N90 million presidential nomination form, said he was not positioning himself for a VP slot.

Further, pushing back on the reports of a possible pairing with Atiku after Obi and Kwankwaso left ADC for the NDC, Amaechi, on May 20, ruled out the possibility of a consensus rather than a direct primary.

Speaking to The Guardian on how the former Transportation Minister finally succumbed to pressures and entreaties from highly placed political leaders from both the North-West and South-South, a very close ally of Amaechi said Atiku assured that the “VP nominee would have extensive roles to play in the campaigns and government”.

Before the latest development, ADC chieftain, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, had dismissed comments credited to party stalwart, Dele Momodu, suggesting that Amaechi had rejected the party’s VP slot ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a statement posted on his verified social media accounts yesterday, Eze described Momodu’s remarks as personal opinion capable of creating unnecessary tension, mistrust and misunderstanding within the party.

According to him, Amaechi’s previous comments after the ADC presidential primaries had only indicated that no one had approached him regarding a VP position.

ATIKU, in a statement which he personally signed and released to commemorate another Democracy Day on June 12, urged citizens to stand up against bad governance, reject the politics of intimidation, and resist every manifestation of democratic backsliding.

He stressed that Nigerians must, once again, summon the courage of those who marched, protested, resisted, suffered and sacrificed for freedom for June 12 to retain its meaning.

The Adamawa politician said, over the past three years, Nigerians had witnessed a deliberate and coordinated effort to weaken, fragment and neutralise opposition political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He added that through manufactured leadership crises, orchestrated defections, political intimidation and the abuse of state institutions, every credible opposition platform had come under sustained attack.

The former VP said institutions that ought to serve the Nigerian people impartially had increasingly been transformed into instruments of partisan warfare, adding that anti-graft agencies, the police, the National Assembly, and even segments of the judiciary had been deployed to harass, intimidate, and coerce opposition voices into submission or defection. (The Guardian, but headline reworked)

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