Atiku, Is It Time to Give the Chase a Rest?

If you are familiar with the Nigerian political landscape, you would know a name, and that name is a constant: Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku Abubakar has been a constant opposition, running for the presidency for more than three decades. But his ambition might just be nearing its end.

On Thursday, a Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the process that produced him as the ADC presidential candidate and sacked the party leadership that organised it.

Atiku has rejected the ruling and promised to appeal, which is the right response to give. For a judgement that seems so unfair to him and his supporters, he has the right to appeal.

But a right to appeal is not the same as a path to the ballot, and I think it is time for Atiku to rest.

What the Court Ruling Means for Atiku’s 2027 Presidential Bid

This court judgement destroys the entire foundation Atiku’s candidacy stood on. It was ruled that the ADC presidential primary that made him the flag bearer came from a leadership that has now been declared illegal by the court of law. If the process is void, the ticket is not an exception.

This also happens at the worst possible timing. His campaign already carries questions about the party unity. The ADC was meant to be the vehicle that held the opposition together. Now, it is just one that contains a leadership crisis, a canceled candidate and a promise for a legal fight.

The electoral calendar is not even on Atiku’s side.

The 2027 presidential election is set for January. We are in November. We are just weeks away from election day.

Nigeria’s courts do not move at campaign speed. We know this, but let me still show you.

Exhibit A: after the 2019 presidential election, the final word from the Supreme Court came in October of that year. The election was held in February.

Exhibit B: after the 2023 election, the Supreme Court did not close the matter until late October as well. The election was held in February too.

Those were cases that had the full attention of the judiciary and every legal tool available, and they still took the better part of a year.

An appeal against this ruling will likely follow the same slow road. Even in the best case, where the Court of Appeal acts with unusual speed, there is no guarantee of a final answer before voting day.

A candidate whose name could be struck out at any point cannot run a credible campaign. Voters, donors and party structures all need certainty, and Atiku cannot offer it.

Why Fresh ADC Primaries Cannot Fix This

Some will ask why the party cannot simply start over. The answer is time and law.

A new primary requires fresh notices, fresh delegate processes and compliance with INEC timelines that are already tight.

With the election weeks away, there is no realistic window to repeat the exercise properly, and any hurried attempt would invite another round of litigation.

So the party is stuck between a ruling it rejects and a calendar it cannot beat. That is not a position from which anyone wins an election.

Atiku’s Long Pursuit of the Presidency Deserves an Honest Look

Atiku has been chasing the presidency for more than three decades. Atiku first reached for the top job in the early 1990s and has returned again and again, across different parties, different alliances and different political eras.

He has contested primaries and general elections, won some internal battles, and lost the rest. In 2019 and 2023 he reached the final stage and still fell short.

Persistence is admirable in a young person building a career. In a politician approaching his 80th birthday, it starts to look like something else.

Nigeria has changed around him. The voters who will decide January’s election include millions of Gen Z Nigerians who were not born when his first campaign began. Many of them see his name and think of the past, not the future they are asking for.

A candidate who needs a court to survive the week is also not the fresh start those voters have been demanding. Seeking the same office for thirty years, in the face of repeated defeat, says something about stamina, which is fair. But it says nothing about the change being offered.

The Case for Stepping Aside Gracefully

I have a version of this story in my head where everything ends… well. He could accept that the legal and political road is closed, thank his supporters and use his weight to help shape the opposition that survives him.

Few politicians in Nigeria have his network, his funds or his experience. Those are assets money cannot entirely buy.

Stepping aside would also protect his reputation as a statesman. Every extra month spent fighting for a ticket that the court has already taken away adds to the picture of a man who cannot let go. Leaving on his own terms is far better than being pushed out by a calendar.

It would also protect the opposition. A party that spends its last weeks arguing over one man’s candidacy cannot spend them persuading voters. Whoever the ADC and its allies pick next will need every day left to introduce themselves, and a prolonged Atiku appeal steals those days.

What Atiku’s Supporters and the Opposition Should Do Next

The people who believe in Atiku should be the first to tell him this. Loyalty to a leader is not the same as loyalty to a cause. If the cause is a better Nigeria, then it is bigger than any one candidate, and it survives his exit.

The opposition has a short window to settle on a credible, legally clean alternative and rally behind it. A hard task, but not an impossible one.

What is impossible is winning an election while arguing in court about whether your candidate exists.

Give the Chase a Rest, Sir

Atiku Abubakar has given Nigerian politics decades of effort, and nobody can take that from him. But a good run does not have to end with getting the trophy.

The court has spoken, the calendar has spoken and the mood of a younger electorate has been speaking for a long time.

Atiku, it is time. Give the chase a rest.