A former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to jettison the idea of contesting the 2027 presidential elections in the country.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that Mr Abubakar had contested for the presidency in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023 was unsuccessful.
Speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Sunday, Mr Fayose urged the former vice president to allow younger ones to take the front seat.
He suggested that holding the highest office in the country would lose its appeal and excitement for an octogenarian in the next election cycle.
“I am sure at this stage, with all due respect to him, he would rather stay away from politics of contest elections again,” he said.
“By the time Asiwaju [Bola Tinubu] will finish, Atiku Abubakar will probably be 80 or 81 so what will be the attraction?
“We should leave the stage when the ovation is loudest, I respect him, and I think Nigerians are craving for a younger generation than ever before, so on what basis will Atiku come and contest again,” he added.
Speaking on the chances of the PDP to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr Fayose noted that the structures that once made the party great have collapsed.
He added that the Labour Party, LP, and its presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, have become more recognisable figures in the fight to oust the current administration.
”As I always say, we can defeat the APC, but when we don’t have a party again, how can we defeat them?
“When we complain about the APC and we don’t have a party and you can say you will do this and that, but when Obi is the voice of the opposition now.
“The press will [rather] call Obi than call the PDP, and when the publicity secretary is suspending people and vice-versa, so where is the party?,” he added.
