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Claim
An X user, Sarauta Maryam @SarautaMaryam, claimed that Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, recently informed the African Democratic Congress (ADC) of his plans to step down for Peter Obi from the party’s presidential primary.
Verdict
This claim is FALSE. The ADC spokesperson has yet to confirm this. Also, in a statement by the media aide to Atiku, Paul Ibe debunked the claim on Monday morning.
Full Text
Atiku Abubakar was among the political bigwigs who quit the People’s Democratic Party in 2025 due to the unending crisis rocking the party.
In a move to realign with his long-time presidential ambition, Atiku joined the ADC, which has positioned itself as a coalition opposition to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general elections.
Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, also left his party last December due to the party’s crisis and factions.
ADC, which has received other top politicians, is yet to schedule its primaries for 2027, with Atiku and Obi repeatedly maintaining that they must appear on the ballot next year.
On Monday, 30 March, an X user, Sarauta Maryam @SarautaMaryam, posted a report which claimed that Atiku has informed the stakeholders of the ADC of his plans to step down from contesting in the party’s presidential primary against Obi and others.
The report also suggested that Atiku also endorsed Obi to win the ADC primary.
Many people who came across it have queried the authenticity of the report.
The post by X user has garnered over 200k likes and more than 2k likes and hundreds of reposts, according to X analytics.
Verification
First, as of Monday morning, the spokesperson of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, has yet to confirm this report via any of his social media page or by any other means.
The party is yet to announce the report.
A look at the claim shows that there were a lot of inconsistencies and uncertainty in the report. For instance, the report failed to specify the date and location of the alleged meeting Atiku had with the party official.
The report was also poorly written.
No credible and reputable news organisation in Nigeria has confirmed this to be true.
Searching further, FACTWATCH found a statement by Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibe, debunking the claim as false.
Conclusion
At the moment, Atiku has yet to step down for anyone ahead of the ADC presidential primary.
Credit: FactWatch Nigeria
