2027: Atiku Challenges Tinubu To Presidential Debate

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has said he will not participate in any presidential debate ahead of the 2027 general elections unless President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are also involved.

Atiku, a former Vice-President and leader of the coalition of opposition parties, accused the APC-led government of using debates involving opposition candidates to set them against one another while avoiding direct scrutiny.

His position was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by his campaign spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo.

Okonkwo said it was unacceptable for presidential debates to be organised mainly among opposition candidates, arguing that political contests should involve both the ruling party and the opposition.

“Political contest worldwide has always been between the ruling party and the opposition parties,” Okonkwo stated.

“The situation in Nigeria today in which presidential debates are organised among the opposition parties only is therefore untenable. This has become a strategy that the failed, incompetent, and corrupt APC government under Tinubu has been using to further instigate the opposition to attack each other while shielding itself from scrutiny by the Nigerian people.”

He said Atiku would therefore make his participation in any presidential debate conditional on the presence of Tinubu and the APC.

“HE Atiku Abubakar, as the leader of the coalition of opposition parties and leaders, is left with no other choice than to make his appearance in any presidential debates conditional on the participation of President Bola Tinubu and the APC,” he added. “There is no hiding place for APC in 2027.”

Okonkwo, however, said Atiku remained willing to engage Nigerians through other platforms, including interviews, town hall meetings and press conferences.

“HE Atiku Abubakar is willing to engage the Nigerian people through interviews, townhall meetings, press conferences, and any other forum of interaction with the people but will not participate in any arrangement that will pit the opposition against itself and give undue advantage to APC,” the statement read.

The campaign also challenged Tinubu to a national presidential debate ahead of the 2027 election, saying such a platform would allow Nigerians to compare the policies and plans of the ruling party and opposition.

“HE Atiku Abubakar, therefore, challenges President Bola Tinubu to a national presidential debate which will provide an opportunity for both the ruling party and the opposition parties to address Nigerians on their policies and ways to achieve those policies so that Nigerians can make an informed choice for the 2027 elections,” Okonkwo concluded.

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