Nigeria’s Action Democratic Party (ADP) remains listed with its own 2027 presidential candidate as chairman Yabagi Yusuf Sani denied privately offering the party’s ticket to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, BusinessDay reported.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) identifies ABBAS-BIN ALIYU as ADP’s nominee, with IKE CHINAZAM as his running mate, on its final candidate list. The nominee uses the name Aliyu Bin Abbas on his campaign website. INEC lists Atiku as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate. Their candidacies add to the separate opposition tickets in Nigeria’s 2027 race.
Sani told BusinessDay in an Oct. 21 interview that he had made no personal arrangement to transfer ADP’s nomination or its identity to Atiku. He said any alliance or merger would need approval from the party’s governing bodies.
In an earlier BusinessDay interview, Abbas said he had resisted pressure to sign a voluntary withdrawal form. He did not name anyone behind the pressure. His campaign website says he worked on Atiku’s presidential campaigns between 2018 and 2023.
Asked about Abbas’s eligibility, Sani pointed to electoral law and ADP’s nomination rules without confirming whether Abbas met them. In a separate answer about leadership support, he said the party would back a candidate selected under those rules. He did not say whether the nominee on INEC’s list met that condition.
Sani cited the dominance of larger parties and money in politics as challenges for ADP and described grassroots organizing as its response. He said the party had not formed a presidential campaign council and gave no announcement date. He also outlined a campaign focus on industrialization, agriculture, jobs, technology and small businesses.
INEC’s briefing for the 2023 election identified Sani as ADP’s presidential candidate that year. The commission has scheduled Nigeria’s next presidential election for Jan. 16, 2027.
