Former Vice President and the Peoples Democratic Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has resigned from the party ahead of the 2027 elections. In a letter dated July 14th, 2025, to the PDP Chairman in Jada LGA, Adamawa State, the former vice president cited irreconcilable differences with the party’s principles. Atiku, a founding member
Former Vice President and the Peoples Democratic Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has resigned from the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
In a letter dated July 14th, 2025, to the PDP Chairman in Jada LGA, Adamawa State, the former vice president cited irreconcilable differences with the party’s principles.
Atiku, a founding member and stakeholder of the PDP, decided to support forming the Alliance Democratic Congress to challenge the All Progressives Congress and oppose President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections.
In the letter, the former PDP vice president states, “I hereby resign my membership from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) effective immediately.
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for the opportunities I have been given by the party.
“Serving two full terms as vice president of Nigeria and being a presidential candidate twice has been one of the most significant chapters of my life.
“As a founding father of this esteemed party, it is indeed heartbreaking for me to make this decision.
The former vice president said that the party’s crises are becoming irreconcilable, limiting their chances of competing in the forthcoming election.
“However, I find it necessary to part ways due to the current trajectory the party has taken, which I believe diverges from the foundational principles we stood for. It is with a heavy heart that I resign, recognising the irreconcilable differences that have emerged.
“I wish the party and its leadership all the best in the future. Thank you once again for the opportunities and support.”
The formation of the new coalition under the ADC was a significant factor influencing Atiku’s departure from the PDP. Additionally, an underlying reason relates to his ongoing disagreements with certain factions within the party, particularly those led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Their strained relationship, resulting from internal party conflicts, played a considerable role in Atiku’s defeat in the 2023 election.
The feud between Atiku and Wike ahead of the 2023 general election, which later caused a divide in the party, emanated from Atiku’s decision to choose Ifeanyi Okowa, the former governor of Delta State, as a running mate after he had promised the former Rivers State governor.
In response to being sidelined, Wike took vengeful action by mobilising forces against Atiku and supporting President Tinubu’s victory in the general election. Having reaped bountifully from the feud between the Atiku and Wike camps, the president appointed Wike as the minister of the FCT. Since then, frustration has greeted all attempts to restore harmony within the party.
As a result, Atiku began to look for an alternative party to play active opposition to the ruling party, like PDP has been doing since 2015. He then teamed up with political elites to form the coalition, using ADC as a platform to form a stronghold in the 2027 election.
Not His First Time of Leaving PDP
Meanwhile, this is not the first time Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would be leaving the Peoples Democratic Party. Despite being a founding member of PDP, Atiku, in his presidential ambition, has defected from the party three times to contest in another party.
He first left the PDP in 2006 to join the Action Congress (later ACN) and ran unsuccessfully against President Umar Musa Yar’Adua in the 2007 presidential election.
He rejoined the PDP in 2009 to run against President Goodluck Jonathan in the party primaries but lost, and Jonathan subsequently won the national election.
In 2014, Atiku left the PDP to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), a newly formed party, to contest the party primary election ahead of the 2015 general election but was defeated by the former president, late Muhammadu Buhari, who later won the poll.
Subsequently, he returned to the PDP to pick up the presidential ticket. In 2017, Abubakar defected for the third time, leaving the APC and returning to the PDP. He won the PDP’s presidential ticket for the 2019 and 2023 elections but was unsuccessful in clinching the presidency.
