As Nigeria’s political theatre prepares for the 2027 general elections, the opposition landscape is undergoing a quiet but profound reshaping. Multiple consultations, power realignments, and strategic calculations are currently underway, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar appears to be at the centre of it all.
Although Atiku has publicly maintained his allegiance to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Observers Times gathered that there is mounting internal pressure within his political base to explore alternative party platforms amid the PDP’s prolonged leadership vacuum and factional disarray.
Among the options now reportedly gaining traction within Atiku’s camp is the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a party seen as politically neutral, structurally intact, and increasingly attractive for coalition-building.
One source familiar with the ongoing consultations told Observers Times, “The SDP has been Tinubu’s bag for years. Many key figures in Atiku’s camp believe it is now compromised. The party has become a political minefield, with its current leadership refusing to cede control. That alone makes it an unreliable vehicle for the kind of serious coalition we’re trying to build.”
The source added, “ADC is now being seriously considered. It offers a clean slate. And don’t forget, there are conversations with LP sympathisers, former APC progressives, El-Rufai loyalists, and several disillusioned PDP stalwarts. It’s all about building a broad, formidable, and credible alternative by 2027.”
The SDP Stalemate
Initially, some opposition leaders within the Atiku bloc had considered the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as the platform for a new political alliance. However, that plan has reportedly stalled due to internal resistance from the party’s current National Working Committee (NWC), who are said to be reluctant to relinquish influence to new stakeholders.
The perception that the SDP has longstanding ties with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu further weakened its appeal among opposition strategists.
“There were honest attempts to negotiate with the SDP, but those doors are now shut,” said a senior opposition figure familiar with the back-channel talks. “The party is seen as structurally compromised and unwilling to accommodate a serious coalition. ADC is now being examined as the next best option.”
Public Denials, Private Movements
Despite growing speculation about a possible switch, Atiku has not openly declared any intention to leave the PDP. On the contrary, during a recent visit by female members of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Atiku reaffirmed his loyalty to the party while calling for a broader national coalition ahead of 2027.
Speaking to the delegation led by former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Inna Ciroma, Atiku said: “We are at a crossroads in this country. The coalition is not just about politics; it is a national necessity. It is similar to the NPN-NPP accord of the Second Republic. When this alliance materialises, it will not undermine the name of the PDP but rather strengthen our collective mission.”
The BoT women had paid Atiku a solidarity visit over what they described as “the dangerous vacuum in PDP’s leadership”, noting that the party’s lack of direction could jeopardise its chances in the next electoral cycle.
“We are disturbed that the party has no leadership,” Ciroma told reporters after the meeting. “Any organisation without direction cannot survive. We cannot watch our great party collapse.”
The delegation also met with Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Umar Damagum, at the Wadata Plaza headquarters, where a closed-door meeting was held. The outcome, according to Ciroma, was a resolution to mobilise stakeholders across Nigeria to rescue the party from internal collapse.
Tinubu Camp Fires Back through Bwala
Meanwhile, Atiku’s efforts to rally the opposition have drawn sharp criticism from former ally turned presidential aide, Daniel Bwala. The one-time Atiku campaign spokesperson, now Special Adviser on Legal and Constitutional Matters to President Bola Tinubu, used a recent appearance on TVC to castigate Atiku’s political career and ambitions.
But in a swift response, the Atiku Media Office described Bwala’s remarks as “ironic and pathetic”, accusing him of political double-speak and opportunism.
“It is ironic and pathetic that Mr. Bwala, a political turncoat who once served as Atiku’s spokesperson, now presumes to lecture a statesman of global standing,” the statement read. “His bitterness betrays a desperate effort to curry favour with a failing administration clearly rattled by the momentum of the emerging coalition.”
The statement further argued: “President Bola Tinubu and his team are increasingly unsettled by the looming opposition coalition. Atiku remains the single most formidable opposition figure in Nigeria today. Bwala’s public tantrums are nothing more than poorly disguised panic.”
While his aides continue to downplay the rumours of a defection, Atiku’s political history tells a different story. He is no stranger to party switches.
The trajectory of Atiku Abubakar’s political journey reads like a mirror to Nigeria’s shifting democratic landscape. A former Vice President and recurring presidential contender, Atiku’s decades-long career is dotted with notable defections that have drawn both criticism and strategic admiration.
His first major political rift came in 2006, during an acrimonious fallout with then-President Olusegun Obasanjo. As tensions escalated within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku severed ties with the ruling party. He moved to the Action Congress (AC), a new party at the time nurtured by former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu. On this platform, he ran for president in the 2007 general elections, though unsuccessfully.
Speaking at the time of his defection, Atiku claimed he could no longer remain in a party that “had derailed from the path of internal democracy and national inclusion.”
His return to the PDP in 2009 came amidst pledges from the party’s leadership to uphold democratic principles. It was a period marked by intra-party reconciliation, following the exit of Obasanjo from office.
Atiku said, “I am coming back to a reformed PDP, one that recognises that power must be returned to the people.”
However, that reconciliation was short-lived. By February 2014, Atiku once again left the PDP, this time for the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was gaining national momentum as a merger of opposition forces. Atiku justified his move by citing dissatisfaction with the PDP’s internal crisis and lack of reform. “I have exhausted all avenues within the PDP to bring about change and internal democracy,” he said.
His flirtation with the APC ended in 2017, following his failure to secure the party’s presidential ticket. In December 2017, Atiku formally rejoined the PDP, noting that the issues that previously drove him away had been resolved. “The PDP has learnt from its mistakes. I am returning to help rebuild the party and rescue Nigeria from hardship,” he declared.
Analysts view Atiku’s political movements as reflective of the broader instability within Nigeria’s party system, where ideology often takes a backseat to ambition and survival. While his critics have labelled him “a serial defector,” his loyalists argue that Atiku has consistently advocated for reforms and democracy, even if it meant changing platforms.
Former APC Chairman and ex-Edo State Governor, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, referenced this pattern during a recent appearance on Politics Today on Channels Television.
“If anyone should write a book on political defections in Nigeria, it is Atiku Abubakar,” Oshiomhole said. “When he was vice president, he left the PDP for the ACN, which was led by Bola Tinubu at the time. No one coerced him. He joined voluntarily. Atiku is Nigeria’s most famous political defector.”
With the PDP embroiled in leadership disputes and struggling to present a cohesive front, many within the opposition now view realignment as inevitable. The 2027 elections may be two years away, but political groundwork is already being laid from Abuja to the grassroots.
The question is no longer whether Atiku will remain in the PDP, but whether the party itself can survive the storm brewing from within. As new coalitions form and alternative parties like the ADC emerge as serious players, the opposition battle lines for 2027 are beginning to take shape.
