Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Saturday, released the final list of presidential candidates and their running mates for the January 16, 2027 general elections, formally clearing 18 political parties to participate in the presidential race.

The vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has asked former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race and concentrate on his traditional responsibilities as the Wazirin Adamawa.

Obi, who is seeking the presidency on the NDC platform, also dismissed reports that he rejected an offer to become Atiku’s running mate, insisting that no such proposal was made to him.

Baba-Ahmed, who was the running mate to Peter Obi on the Labour Party ticket in the 2023 presidential election, said the major politicians seeking to unseat Tinubu had, at different times, been part of the same political establishment they now claim to oppose.

The exchange followed a comment by an X user, identified as @Oluwabunmi63697, who challenged Atiku over a photograph showing children apparently engaged in street begging.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency stressed that the case before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia is strictly a civil dispute over access to government records.

The appointment is significant because Von Batten’s firm was hired by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar earlier this year under a $1.2 million, 12-month agreement to provide government-affairs and strategic-advisory services in the United States.

Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., in a statement posted on its X account on Wednesday, alleged that its founder, Dr Karl Von Batten, received an unsolicited offer of $3 million “a few days ago”, alongside an invitation to a confidential meeting in London.

President Bola Tinubu devoted a substantial part of his latest statement, released on X, attacking the economic position of His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, yet declined, rather theatrically, to mention him by name, claiming that he would not “dignify” opposition leaders.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, made the allegations in a statement in which he described recent reports attributed to a Washington-based consultant as politically motivated claims being packaged as sensitive United States intelligence.