The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Dumebi Kachikwu, has alleged that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is planning a calculated takeover of the party to advance his 2027 presidential ambition.

Recall that major opposition figures, including Abubakar, Peter Obi, 20,3 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, and Rotimi Ameachi, former minister of transportation, announced a coalition under the umbrella of the ADC as the platform to contest elections in 2027.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Kachikwu accused Atiku and others of manipulating Obi and the leadership of ADC through fraudulent means into the coalition.

According to him, Obi is being pressured to accept to be Abubakar’s running mate, stressing that his men have been strategically positioned within the party’s hierarchy nationwide to secure its control.

The former presidential candidate maintained that despite professing affinity with the south, Atiku does not believe any southerner deserves the presidency.

“I had warned that a group of mostly old former political officeholders was executing a well-orchestrated agenda to take over the ADC to prosecute Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition come 2027.

“I also warned that Peter Obi and other presidential hopefuls in this coalition of geriatrics were being duped, as Atiku’s men had been carefully positioned to take over the ADC party structure across the country,” he said.