? We will upstage the status quo in a way that will leave doubters dumbstruck?

? Insists he will contest presidential election

? Disowns statement insinuating he may not run

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday vowed that despite efforts by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to ridicule and play down the current momentum in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the coalition will shock the world in the 2027 presidential election.

Atiku also laid to rest the insinuation that he might not contest the presidential poll two years from now, stressing that he will run for the nation?s top job in the next election cycle.

One of the politician?s spokespersons during the 2023 presidential election, Tunde Olusunle, disclosed this to THISDAY last night, quoting his ex-principal as maintaining that Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the ?intensive care? unit it has been consigned to under the Bola Tinubu government.

Atiku, until recently a prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has often sought broad coalitions to strengthen his presidential bids. In that light, the ADC, a hitherto relatively smaller party has brought together some heavyweight politicians, positioning itself as a third-force alternative outside the dominance of the APC and PDP.

Besides, the former Nigeria?s number two man decried what he described as the unprecedented ?thievery? in the current administration, highlighting the need to ?rescue? the country from its current leaders.

He pointed out that the ADC will mobilise Nigerians to upstage the status quo in 2027, emphasising that he will be offering himself for election.

?The accompanying deceit, the loss of values, the mega-scale, unimpeded thievery and the absolute lack of accountability must disturb every concerned patriot. I will be offering myself to lead the reclamation and reconstruction of our traumatised homeland,? Olusunle quoted Atiku as having said, after conferring with him.

Atiku explained that the coalition which he is leading under the ADC is to galvanise popular support for the liberation of Nigeria, but said that a platform which was adopted just a few months ago cannot be expected to engender upsets in by-elections that just held.

?ADC is leading a potent mass movement which will shock the world. We will upstage the status quo in a way which will leave doubters dumbstruck,? he maintained.

In the same vein, contrary to recent reports to the effect that he may opt out of the 2027 presidential contest, the former Vice President Atiku restated that he will run for the nation?s top job.

However, apart from Atiku, ex-Anambra Governor, Peter Obi, and former Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, have made public their intentions to jostle for the ADC?s presidential ticket as part of a coalition of opposition figures seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu at the polls in 2027.

While the former vice president has positioned himself as the most experienced hand, Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has insisted he will not play a secondary role to anyone. Also, Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation, has hinted on plans to throw his hat into the ring.

But Atiku was quoted to have said at the weekend that his commitment to the evolution of a better Nigeria far outweighed his quest to be President. Prof. Ola Olateju of the Achievers University, Owo, Ondo state, who represented him at the defection of several top political figures to ADC in Lagos, suggested that Atiku was not enamoured about occupying Aso Rock at all costs.

?Atiku Abubakar?s plan is to build a better Nigeria, it?s not about being President. It?s about establishing a government that works for Nigerians. That?s why some of us are with him, not because Atiku must be President at all costs,? Olateju was widely reported to have said at the event he stood in for Atiku.

But Olusunle stated that after reading the report from his holiday home in the United Arab Emirates, (UAE), Atiku disowned the statement, insisting that the message conveyed during the event was not sanctioned by him.

?I did not issue that statement,? he said. ?When people stand in for me at events, we preview my thoughts on the instant subject and what my contribution or intervention will be, so we are on the same page. In this particular instance, there was no engagement with me to distill my thoughts. Prof Olateju was not speaking for me,? he stated.

The elder statesman added: ?I will run in 2027. Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the intensive care unit it has been consigned. The degeneration in our country, the level of poverty and pain, the anguish, is unacceptable.?

Atiku?s statement is also coming as the presidency has often seized every opportunity to ridicule the ADC, claiming that the coalition only exists on paper and portraying it as inconsequential as well as lacking real electoral weight. (THISDAY, but headline rejigged)

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