Atiku shops for VP candidate in S’East, S’South, may zero in on ex-gov

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has commenced high level nationwide consultations to select a vice presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 general elections, with sources close to his campaign confirming that the search is active, urgent and yet unresolved.

Atiku, 79, secured the ADC presidential ticket after polling 1,855,787 votes during the party’s primary election, beating former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who scored 509,397 votes and former banker, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who garnered 180,903 votes.Following the conclusion of the primary, attention within the opposition circles has shifted entirely to the composition of the joint ticket, which political analysts describe as the most critical strategic decision now facing the campaign.

Sources close to the former vice president, who spoke to Daily Sun on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Atiku is personally directing the consultations and has been engaging senior stakeholders across multiple political blocs and geo-political zones in the southern part of the country. The sources added that no final decision has been taken and that the process remains ongoing.

Two names have emerged from the deliberations as the most prominent under consideration. The first is Amaechi, who placed second in the ADC presidential primary. Amaechi has publicly refuted claims that he was offered the vice presidential ticket following his defeat at the primary, but sources within the opposition coalition told Daily Sun that his name has not been removed from the selection matrix.

Proponents within the campaign argue that he brings established South South credentials, two terms of experience as governor of Rivers State and a national political profile that gives the ticket independent electoral reach in the Niger Delta.

However, senior members of the campaign team are said to be tracking his candidacy with caution, given his public expression of dissatisfaction with the outcome of the primary election and his stated reservations about the integrity of the exercise he lost.

The second name under active consideration is former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the ADC in January 2026.Sources within the Atiku camp said Duke’s institutional credibility, clean political record and low negative rating among the Southern electorate have made him an attractive option for those managing the selection process.

Duke served two terms as Governor of Cross River State between 1999 and 2007, a tenure widely acknowledged for its developmental initiatives and administrative discipline.

However, loyalists of the presidential candidate have noted with concern that Duke previously made public remarks questioning the wisdom of Atiku’s repeated presidential bids, a position that sources say the campaign has not yet found a satisfactory way to reconcile.

Beyond the South South calculations, Atiku’s camp is equally casting its eyes towards the South East, a zone that delivered some of the most remarkable voter mobilisation numbers in recent Nigerian electoral history and whose political leadership is keenly aware of its collective bargaining power heading into 2027.

Daily Sun gathered that one or two prominent South East figures were being quietly evaluated as potential running mates, with consultations said to be at an early but serious stage.

Former Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha is top on the list from the South East. Ihedioha, whose brief tenure as governor was truncated by a Supreme Court judgement in 2020, retains considerable goodwill within the South East political establishment and is regarded by some Atiku’s allies as a figure whose selection would energise the zone’s electorate while carrying minimal political liabilities at the national level.

Daily Sun learnt that the running mate search reflects a geopolitical pattern that has defined Atiku’s previous campaigns. In 2019, he selected Peter Obi from the South East as his running mate on the PDP ticket. In 2023, he chose Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State from the South South.

The current search is similarly focused on the South East and South South, with no indication that the South West is being considered despite its significant share of the national electorate.

Amid the search, the party is simultaneously managing a factional leadership dispute that has entered the courts, adding institutional pressure to a campaign already operating under tight timelines.