Wike; Atiku keeps jumping from one Party to another @ 80 years old in search of Presidential ticket

Wike; Atiku keeps jumping from one Party to another @ 80 years old in search of Presidential ticket

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar for his repeated defections between Nigeria’s major political parties, accusing him of being driven by an unrelenting desire to become president.

Speaking during a media parley in Abuja on Monday, Wike questioned Atiku’s political stability and described his frequent party shifts as inappropriate, particularly for someone approaching the age of 80.

“Atiku was in the PDP in 1999, then he joined the Action Congress (AC). After AC, he returned to the PDP, later moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and then back to the PDP again, all in pursuit of the presidential ticket,” Wike said.

He continued with a personal jibe, “If I were his son, I would sit him down and ask: ‘Dad, how can you keep hopping from one party to another at almost 80 years old?’”

The minister made the remarks while responding to Abubakar’s recent defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a move linked to a growing opposition coalition seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.

Wike dismissed the defection as a mere act of political survival.

“The way the PDP is now, it is not likely that Atiku would get a ticket, therefore it is not comfortable. Therefore, he tells you, ‘let’s do a coalition against Tinubu.’ It’s not right,” he said.

“It is because he cannot get the presidential ticket under the PDP that he pushed for a coalition.”