Atiku cannot be president in 2027 because it is not the turn of the North— Doyin Okupe
Former spokesperson of Peter Obi’s Presidential Campaign Organisation, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has stated that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would not be president in 2027, stating why.
Nigeria is due for another presidential election that year, and Okupe is of the opinion that the 2023 presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), though eminently qualified for the race, would not be president.
He said for a start that it is not the North where Atiku comes from that is supposed to produce Nigeria’s president in 2027.
“Atiku failed in 2023, not because he was not a good person, but because people felt that a northern Muslim cannot succeed another northern Muslim after eight years.
“If Atiku still contests in 2027, he has a right. He is eminently qualified and one of the best we have, but geopolitics is an issue.
“The conditionality still persists, a Southerner would have just completed four years and needs another four-year term.
“It’s not in the constitution, but we agree that when a Northerner does his eight years, a Southerner will do.
“So, the North cannot now terminate the tenure of the South in 2027. It is not going to work”, he said while speaking with NAN.
According to him, Atiku’s candidacy would face the same challenges as in 2023 when his bid was perceived as disrupting the North-South power rotation.
Geopolitics, not age, is the main hurdle to Atiku’s ambition he said, adding that the South should be allowed to complete its eight-year term, just as the North did before Tinubu’s coming.
On the prospects of Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi running, Okupe, welcomed it, stating:
“Obi can contest. Obi is a young man, very dynamic and very ambitious; but geopolitics is important in a country that has not achieved horizontal and vertical unity.
“The person who is occupying the place right now, Tinubu, is also a Southerner, who is doing well.
“We can see what this gentleman (Tinubu) is doing. I wish Obi luck, but it is going to be an uphill task,” he said.
