2027: Atiku Camp Rejects Oba of Lagos’ Endorsement of Tinubu
Media aide to the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, has said Nigerians, rather than traditional rulers, will determine who occupies the presidency after the 2027 general election. Shaibu was reacting to comments by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Riliwanu Akiolu, who endorsed President Bola Tinubu for another term and declared that there would be no vacancy in Aso Rock for the next four or five years. The monarch made the remarks on Monday while receiving the Director-General of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, and members of his delegation at his palace in Lagos. Akiolu also urged politicians not to treat political disagreements as permanent hostility, saying disagreements could eventually be resolved. Responding in a series of posts on X, Shaibu said the monarch had the right to support his preferred candidate but could not make such an endorsement on behalf of Nigerians. He argued that the presidency was not a traditional stool that could be allocated by a monarch and maintained that the outcome of the 2027 election would ultimately be determined by voters.
Shaibu said the Constitution guarantees an electoral process in 2027 and warned against treating the presidential contest as though its outcome had already been decided. He stressed that democracy, in his view, should not be equated with a coronation and that no traditional ruler, political party or campaign organisation could declare the election settled before Nigerians cast their ballots. The remarks come as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general election, with Atiku and other opposition figures stepping up criticism of the Tinubu administration. Atiku has particularly challenged the Federal Government over the management of funds saved from the removal of the petrol subsidy, following renewed threats of industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities. He argued that the possibility of another university strike raised questions about the level of funding available to public universities despite the government’s justification for the subsidy policy. Atiku has also continued to criticise the administration over issues including President Tinubu’s academic and National Youth Service Corps credentials.
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