Former Vice‑President Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday night emerged as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate and wasted no time attacking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He accused the government of driving Nigeria into deeper hardship, insecurity and political repression while nudging the country toward a one‑party state.
The primary at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, became a rallying point for opposition forces aiming at the 2027 poll, with Atiku pitching the ADC as the platform to “rescue” Nigeria’s democracy and reverse worsening hardship.
After his victory late Wednesday, Atiku vowed to lead a national recovery and begged aggrieved coalition members and defeated aspirants to unite behind the party. He won 1,846,370 votes out of 2,527,977 cast, beating former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi (504,117) and businessman Mohammed Hayatu‑Deen (177,120) in a contest among the party’s 3,113,599 registered members.
“We demonstrated that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by the ruling party and its oppressive and anti‑democratic government, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress,” he said.
He accused the APC of engineering crises inside opposition parties with help from security agencies, INEC and parts of the judiciary. “As I speak, virtually all opposition political parties in the country have leadership crisis engineered by the APC government, the INEC and elements in the judiciary,” he said.
Atiku condemned the detention of former Kaduna governor Nasir El‑Rufai: “All because he is a leading opposition figure. This kind of cruelty must stop.” He added: “Under this government, once a person joins the APC, the harassment ceases and the charges against them magically disappear.”
“Enough is enough,” Atiku said, warning that any further attempt to undermine the coalition will be “fiercely’ resisted.
He urged unity—especially from Amaechi and Hayatu‑Deen—and warned of worsening insecurity. “Every region of this country is gripped by insecurity, the worst kind in our history,” he said, promising to bolster security forces.
On the economy he said official growth hides real pain: “The poverty gripping our people is at a level that we have never seen in our history.” He criticised subsidy removal, rising debt and alleged contract diversion, saying the future is being mortgaged with no accountability.
On education he noted over 20 million out‑of‑school children and promised free primary and secondary education. On health he said the Ministry got only N30 million for capital expenditure last year, calling it proof the government “doesn’t care about the health of our people,” and pledged major investments.
Drawing a contrast with the APC’s slogan, he said: “Where the APC government offers meaningless renewed hope, we will provide renewed action to repair the damage that they have done to our economy and society in the last twelve years of misrule.”
