Erstwhile presidential aide, Laolu Akande has said that the insistence of former Vice President, Atiku Ababakar in contesting the 2027 presidential election will seriously affect the chances of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to wrestle power from President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
While pointing out that Peter Obi and Rotimi Amaechi are best placed to confront Tinubu in next year’s presidential election, he said the continuation of the presidency in the south should already be clear to opposition parties seeking to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Akande spoke on Friday while featuring on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television, he said uncertainty within opposition ranks, including what he described as the “shadows of Atiku Abubakar”, is affecting the emergence of a serious opposition.
According to him, “What ought to be clear by now, talking about the opposition, I mean the ADC, is that the presidency is going to stay in the south.
“And that is one of the ambivalences that is affecting the true emergence of a serious opposition, because we still have, you know, the shadows of Atiku Abubakar, who wants to run.
“I think we’ve gotten to a point in my view where the question of a national presidency has become a national concern. And it’s not wise, you know, for anybody to try to undercut that.”
Akande, who served as spokesman to then Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, urged opposition parties to rally behind experienced southern politicians such as Amaechi and Obi.
His words, “If they were serious… people like Rotimi Amaechi, people like Peter Obi ought to be the ones to be pushed forward.
“Look at Amaechi. Amaechi has been a speaker, he’s been a governor, he’s been a minister. He was second in the APC.
“Tremendous career in politics, opportunities in service… And he was the guy that was in charge of infrastructure development.”
He maintained that the opposition needs a southern candidate with governance experience who can stand “head-to-head against President Tinubu”.
The former presidential aide warned that without such a candidate, Atiku could still dominate opposition politics ahead of the election.
“As things stand now, if you keep on getting the vibes that Atiku wants to do it by his means, he will probably be able to forge his way through by some means, because he seems to be the strongest politician in the party. The shadows of Atiku are still hanging heavily,” he said.
