Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central and a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, has called on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to abandon his 2027 presidential ambition and make way for a younger candidate, warning that the veteran politician’s refusal to step aside could tear the opposition apart. Speaking on Monday during an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ programme, Umeh said that while Atiku remains a respected and influential figure in Nigerian politics, the time has come for him to channel his energy into mentoring the next generation rather than contesting for the nation’s highest office. “I was thinking he would be at the point where he would be considering leaving the stage for younger people, but he said he is contesting. So it means everything everybody has said over the past months did not resonate with him,” Umeh said. He noted that Atiku has been running for the presidency since 2003 and has been on the ballot as a presidential candidate on three occasions in 2007, 2019 and 2023, arguing that it is now time for the former vice president to step back and allow fresh ideas to take centre stage. “We respect him, but it is time to step aside,” Umeh declared, stressing that those being asked to step down are coming with new ideas capable of delivering the kind of change Nigerians desperately seek. “To challenge a president who is not willing to leave, you must be offering Nigerians something different,” he said.
Umeh’s remarks come just days after Atiku, who will be 80 years old by the time of the 2027 elections, announced that the next general election will be his final attempt at the presidency. In a separate interview monitored on Arise Television, the former vice president defended his ambition, arguing that younger politicians require experience and tutelage from older leaders to succeed in governance. Atiku also described former President Goodluck Jonathan as an “inexperienced” leader, a comment that has drawn sharp criticism from Jonathan’s supporters. While acknowledging Atiku’s influence and political stature, Umeh insisted that the former vice president’s continued presence on the ballot could prove detrimental to the ADC’s chances of unseating the ruling All Progressives Congress. “If he holds on to that ground that he cannot build the younger ones to succeed him and make him a father, then it means nobody is ready to concede an inch at all,” Umeh warned. “So if they go all out to wrestle, it may get to a point where some people will have a bloody nose in the end, and the thing that will suffer will be the party.”
The senator’s intervention has added to the mounting pressure on Atiku to reconsider his ambition, as the ADC finds itself engulfed in an escalating internal crisis over its presidential ticket. Multiple heavyweight aspirants are jostling for the party’s candidacy, including Atiku, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, and former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola.
According to reports, all the leading aspirants have indicated they do not plan to step down, with Atiku reportedly dismissing behind-the-scenes efforts to persuade him to make way for a consensus arrangement. Sources close to the former vice president say he remains convinced that he is the opposition’s strongest presidential material and has the structure, resources, and experience to mount a credible national campaign. Meanwhile, the organised supporters of Peter Obi, widely known as the Obidient Movement, have issued an ultimatum that it must be Obi or they will withdraw their support and back another party entirely.
Amaechi has gone a step further, publicly stating that Atiku is too old to contest the presidency in 2027, while Aregbesola has declared that he will not invest his political energy in a campaign that centres on Obi and benefits the South East at the expense of other geopolitical zones.
In the midst of this fractious political landscape, Umeh also addressed recent reports that Peter Obi visited Rotimi Amaechi to negotiate a step-down arrangement. He dismissed the claims as a misrepresentation of what was a routine political consultation among aspirants. “Obi going to see Mr Rotimi Amaechi was a noble visit with good intention. You have to talk to your opponent. They were not talking about stepping down. That is a misrepresentation. That was a wrong spin on that visit,” Umeh clarified.
He argued that the consultations unfolding among opposition aspirants reflect a natural and necessary political process, noting that multiple candidates vying for the same office must engage in sustained dialogue if they are to arrive at a unified position. “There is no way all of them will become presidential candidates or all of them become President of Nigeria at the same time. There must be some level of discussions and consultations that will open up a line of decision-making,” he said. He further stressed that the overriding consideration in the opposition’s candidate selection process must be the expectations of ordinary Nigerians rather than the personal ambitions of individual aspirants, warning that failure to heed the public mood could prove costly against an entrenched ruling party.
As the ADC hurtles towards its presidential primaries, the party’s leadership is understood to be deeply alarmed by the pace and public nature of the divisions. Senior officials have held several emergency consultative meetings in recent weeks to manage the escalating tensions, but sources within the party say no meaningful resolution has been reached. “What we are seeing is not a disagreement about policy or direction. It is a collision of ambitions. And ambitions of this size do not resolve easily,” a party official told the press. The party, which had positioned itself as a credible home for opposition figures dissatisfied with the APC and the PDP, now risks being defined not by what it stands for but by the very public spectacle of what its leading figures cannot agree on. For Senator Victor Umeh, the path forward is clear: Atiku Abubakar must step aside for a younger candidate before the opposition tears itself apart. Whether the former vice president heeds that call remains to be seen.
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