YOLA — In a move that has fundamentally shaken the political foundation of the North-East, Abba Atiku Abubakar, the son of former Vice President and serial presidential contender Atiku Abubakar, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with a blunt verdict: his father cannot defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections.
Speaking at a high-profile reception in Yola, Adamawa State, on Monday, January 26, 2026, Abba formally renounced his father’s political dynasty to embrace the “Renewed Hope” agenda of the incumbent administration. His defection was marked by a rare and public assessment of his father’s electoral prospects, as he asserted that the political momentum and structural advantages currently held by President Tinubu have made the presidency “unattainable” for any opposition figure.
“The truth must be told, even when it is difficult,” Abba stated while holding his new APC membership card. “I have looked at the political map and the reforms currently being implemented across the country. I am convinced that no opposition candidate, including my father, has the capacity to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027. There is no vacancy in Aso Rock, and it is time we face the reality that the President is unstoppable.”
Abba specifically cited the President’s “merit-based” appointments and the aggressive push for infrastructural development as the primary drivers of his decision. He argued that the President has successfully transcended the traditional barriers of religion and tribe, making the APC a truly national platform that the fragmented opposition cannot dismantle.
As a symbolic gesture of his total commitment, Abba announced the immediate metamorphosis of his nationwide political machinery. The “Haske Atiku Organisation,” which played a pivotal role in his father’s 2023 campaign, has been officially renamed the “Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation.” He subsequently issued a directive to his coordinators in all 36 states and the FCT to collapse their structures into the APC and begin immediate grassroots mobilization for the President’s re-election bid.
This defection is considered a massive strategic and psychological blow to the elder Atiku Abubakar, who is currently attempting to forge a grand alliance under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to challenge the APC. Adamawa State APC leaders, who received the younger Atiku, described the move as a “seismic shift” that effectively ends the opposition’s dominance in the President’s rival’s home state.
Political analysts suggest that Abba’s public declaration that his father “cannot beat Tinubu” is a calculated move to signal the shifting loyalties within the northern political elite. While the former Vice President’s camp has dismissed the defection as a “minor family matter,” the spectacle of a son openly campaigning against his father’s lifelong ambition has provided the ruling party with a potent narrative of invincibility as the 2027 election cycle begins in earnest.
