Chief Bode George, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, has said that the opposition would collapse if former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged as its 2027 presidential candidate.

The PDP chieftain said this on Channels Television when he appeared on the station’s Politics Today programme on Monday. 

“If he (Atiku) picks it (PDP’s ticket), that is the end of this party. If he picks it by manipulation which was what was done the last time, we will not accept it,” he said.

Atiku, who has been contesting for Nigeria’s president for over three decades, came second in the 2023 presidential election, defeated by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ahead of the 2027 election, Atiku has championed an inter-party alliance that birthed a coalition, which was announced on Thursday, March 20, 2025, as a springboard to wrestle power from the Tinubu-led government.

The coalition, which includes the Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and ex-Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai as arrowheads, is banking on the numerical strength of the votes Atiku and Obi recorded in the 2023 poll. 

It would be recalled that Atiku of the PDP and Obi of the LP came second and third, respectively, with combined votes of over 12 million.

However, while Atiku succeeded in establishing himself as a founding member of the coalition, governors elected in his party rejected the move.

The PDP governors on Monday, April 14, 2025, rejected the coalition spearheaded by Atiku and ruled out any party plan for mergers or coalitions.

Speaking on Channels Television, praised the PDP governors for rejecting the coalition led by Atiku.

He said Atiku has not shown himself to be a leader of the party because he has not made efforts to resolve the crisis rocking the party.

“No, if he is the leader of the party, he would have waded into it (the crisis). The fact that he was the presidential candidate of the party at the last election doesn’t mean he is a bona fide, fixated leader of the party. If he’s running for his private interest, it’s different from the interest of the party,” George said.

Asked if Atiku could be the flag bearer of the PDP in 2027, the PDP chieftain said, “He cannot be. This is what I am saying. There was eight years in the north, there should be eight years in the south. That is the dictate, that is the doctrine of the PDP. I can’t say he cannot contest; he can go to any party because it is his constitutional right but as far as we are concerned, he cannot be the candidate.”

George also said he doesn’t want Tinubu to be re-elected in 2027, adding that he wants his party to win the next election with a southern candidate.