Atiku was never destined for presidency – Bwala

Presidential aide Daniel Bwala has cast doubt on the political future of his former principal, ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, suggesting that he may never become Nigeria’s president.

“There is my former principal who believes that he is going to win,” Bwala said during an appearance on *Politics Today*, a programme on Channels Television. He was responding to questions about the viability of the new opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general election, which includes figures like Atiku, Peter Obi, and Rotimi Amaechi.

“In all honesty, I have expressed my opinion that it may never have been destined by God for him to be a president in Nigeria because he has done everything he needs to do to be president and he did not win the presidency,” Bwala added.

He argued that the 2023 election was Atiku’s best shot at winning the presidency, stating, “2023 was the biggest opportunity that my former principal Atiku Abubakar had. He will never have that kind of privilege again.”

Bwala, who served as a spokesperson for Atiku’s presidential campaign in 2023, switched support to President Bola Tinubu months after the election.

Speaking on the newly formed coalition of opposition figures, which recently adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its political platform, Bwala dismissed the alliance as lacking in strategy and vision.

“What I still find intriguing is that this coalition of internally displaced politicians have not been able to summon the courage and come up with alternative facts, alternative policies or alternative programmes,” he said.

Referring to a recent interview with Labour Party’s Peter Obi, Bwala noted: “Throughout the interview you had with Peter Obi, what I find is that he has not been able to counter or to disagree in the real sense of the word with the policies that we are implementing.”