Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, has claimed that former vice president Atiku Abubakar left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) again because he would not secure the presidential ticket for the 2027 election.
Wike said this on Monday, during a media parley in Abuja. The minister berated Atiku for frequently switching political parties since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.
The former Rivers State governor said Atiku’s recent defection from the PDP to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is typical of the politician.
“The way the PDP is now, it is not likely that Atiku would get a ticket, therefore it is not comfortable. Therefore, he tells you, let’s do a coalition against Tinubu. It’s not right,” he said.
“It is because he cannot get the presidential ticket under the PDP that he pushed for a coalition.”
Speaking further, he said if he were a son of the ex-PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, he would advice him to desist from switching political camps too often at 80 years old.
“Atiku was in the PDP in 1999, then he joined the Action Congress (AC). After AC, he returned to the PDP, later moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and then back to the PDP again, all in pursuit of the presidential ticket,” Wike said.
“If I were his son, I would sit him down and ask: ‘Dad, how can you keep hopping from one party to another at almost 80 years old?”
Wike stated that Atiku’s moves are driven by his uncontrollable desire to become president.
He dismissed the opposition coalition against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
