Atiku Dismisses Tinubu’s 10.9m APC Primary Votes as ‘Fabricated’
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed the results of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary election, describing the 10.9 million votes credited to President Bola Tinubu as fabricated, even as he intensified his political comeback bid under a new platform.
The APC, in results announced at the weekend, declared that Tinubu polled 10,999,160 votes to clinch the party’s presidential ticket for the 2027 general elections, a figure the party hailed as a strong mandate from its members ahead of the polls.
But Atiku, speaking to journalists at his Ajiya ward in Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State shortly after casting his vote in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, openly questioned the credibility of the figures.
“It is a lie. The figures were merely written,” Atiku said when asked whether he felt demoralised by the size of Tinubu’s reported tally. He urged Nigerians to disregard the outcome of the APC exercise entirely.
The former Vice President, who served under President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007, used the occasion to renew his longstanding criticism of the Tinubu administration, accusing the President of maladministration and what he described as insensitivity to the plight of the electorate amid prevailing economic difficulties.
Atiku, a five time presidential aspirant who finished second in the 2023 election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has since defected to the ADC following protracted internal disputes within the PDP.
His decision to seek the ADC ticket has positioned the party, traditionally a smaller opposition platform, as a potential rallying point for opposition figures ahead of 2027, though the ADC itself has been battling its own internal crisis in recent months.
Speaking on the turnout at the ADC primary, Atiku struck an optimistic tone. “It is encouraging to see the large number of people gathered here for this exercise, especially the youths. Whenever young people embrace something, it shows that it is worthwhile and beneficial to them and their families,” he said.
Asked whether he remained confident of winning the general election should he emerge as the ADC flagbearer despite the party’s internal frictions, the former Vice President was unequivocal.
“We are confident. We do not see any challenge that will stop us from achieving what we set out to do,” he stated.
He further appealed directly to voters, framing the 2027 contest as a referendum on the ruling party’s economic management. “My message to Nigerians is to vote for the ADC. Any other party aside from the ADC will only worsen their hardship,” he added.
The 2027 general elections are expected to be one of the most fiercely contested in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, with the APC seeking to consolidate its hold on power and a fractured opposition struggling to coalesce around a single challenger. Atiku’s rejection of the APC primary figures signals that the credibility of party level mandates may itself become a battleground heading into the polls.
Neither the APC national leadership nor the Presidency had issued a formal response to Atiku’s remarks as of the time of filing this report.