2027: Atiku Vows to Boycott Presidential Debates Unless Tinubu Participates

 

By Abdulahi Musa 

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has declared that he will not participate in any presidential debate ahead of the 2027 general elections unless President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are represented.

Atiku’s position was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by his campaign spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo, who criticised the organisation of debates involving only opposition candidates.

According to Okonkwo, presidential contests should provide an opportunity for both the ruling party and opposition parties to present their policies, records and programmes directly to Nigerians.

He accused the APC-led administration of using opposition-only debates to set opposition candidates against one another while allegedly avoiding direct scrutiny from the electorate.

“Political contest worldwide has always been between the ruling party and the opposition parties,” Okonkwo said, describing the current arrangement as untenable.

He said Atiku, as leader of the opposition coalition, had therefore made his participation in any presidential debate conditional on the presence of President Tinubu and the APC.

The ADC candidate, however, remains willing to engage Nigerians through other platforms, including interviews, town hall meetings and press conferences.

The campaign said Atiku would not participate in any arrangement that pits opposition candidates against one another while, in its view, giving the ruling party an undue advantage.

Okonkwo subsequently challenged President Tinubu to participate in a national presidential debate with Atiku, arguing that such an engagement would enable Nigerians to hear directly from the leading candidates and assess their policies ahead of the 2027 election.

The development adds another dimension to the emerging political contest ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Atiku positioning the proposed debate as an opportunity for the ruling party and opposition to publicly account for their records and plans for Nigeria.