According to Otunba Segun Sowunmi, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Vice President Atiku Abubakar has the right to run for President again in 2027 regardless of his previous outings.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates, Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 and Bola Tinubu in 2023, defeated Atiku in both of his PDP campaigns.
However, discussions regarding Atiku’s presidential aspirations have taken place as politicians gear up for the 2027 race.
The 78-year-old politician’s detractors have called for him to resign so that younger candidates can represent the party as presidential candidates after he has lost twice in his six efforts to the presidency to the APC.
However, Sowunmi differed, arguing that people spend excessive amounts of time on something that should be a constitutionally guaranteed right and a matter of personal choice.
He claimed that Nigerians spend too much time harassing Atiku rather than discussing ways to unseat the ruling party.
The former vice president cannot be intimidated, Sowunmi emphasised, adding that the more determined he gets, the more resilient he will be.
He said, “The first thing people must understand is that a lot of suggestions, persuasion, argument, pressure, and bullies come into play in politics, but whether any human being will contest any election is purely the rights granted to them by the constitution and according to the platforms of the party.
“So what I find a little bit curious is that instead of people talking about how they win or even how they’re going to win the general election, they have devoted too much time to trying to bully a man that cannot be bullied. I know very well if anybody tries to bully him; you basically do only to make him more resolute in his position.”
He added that the law allows Atiku to run for president and that the PDP and other political parties are free to zone their presidential candidates in line with Nigeria’s and the parties’ constitutions.
“What law would you use to prevent somebody from contesting an election when we have even created laws to say anybody who wants to contest is free to contest?” he queried.
Recounting Atiku’s several attempts at the presidency, Sowunmi argued that political aspirants should not be denied the right the constitution has granted them, irrespective of how many times they have tried to contest for a position.
He said, “He has contested primary tickets in parties before that he didn’t win, and he has also contested primary tickets in parties that he has won. He contested in 1992; he didn’t get the ticket at that time in SDP. In 2007, he won the ticket under AC or ACN; I can’t remember. In 2011, he tried to do it under the PDP; he didn’t really get the ticket. In 2015, he contested under the APC; he didn’t get the ticket. So, what I’m trying to say in essence is that we shouldn’t let us put too much energy into depriving people of their rights.”
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