Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged delegates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to select a presidential candidate based on competence, experience, and national reach rather than social media popularity and sentiments ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement released on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku warned that the party must field its strongest candidate to unseat President Bola Tinubu, dismissing social media enthusiasm as an insufficient measure of readiness for the presidency.
With Nigeria currently grappling with severe economic hardship, mounting public debt, widespread insecurity, and institutional decay, Atiku said the ADC cannot afford to experiment with an untested candidate.
“This is not a season for political experimentation. Nigeria cannot afford a learning-on-the-job presidency,” he declared.
Without directly naming any potential rivals, the former vice president took a swipe at contenders riding on waves of social media support, stressing that presidential elections are won through structures, strategy, and proven governance capacity rather than digital noise.
“Elections are not won on social media enthusiasm alone. Governance is not performance art. The presidency is not a platform for improvisation. The ADC must present to Nigerians its strongest, most credible, most prepared candidate — not merely its loudest,” Atiku said.
He described the decision facing ADC delegates as a historic responsibility, given the scale of the country’s current challenges.
“At a time when Nigeria is bleeding from every pore — crippled by economic hardship, insecurity, rising debt, institutional failure, and deepening hopelessness — the question before the ADC is simple: who has the capacity not merely to campaign, but to govern effectively from day one?” he asked.
Atiku argued that the situation demands a leader with proven international negotiation experience, job creation through enterprise, crisis management skills, coalition-building ability, and a practical roadmap for economic recovery.
He pointed to his record during the Obasanjo-Atiku administration, citing key achievements such as the privatisation programme that liberalised major sectors of the economy, fiscal discipline that helped Nigeria secure debt relief, and comprehensive governance reforms of that era.
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