Victor Umeh, Senator representing Anambra central, says former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar should consider stepping aside for younger politicians ahead of the next presidential election.
Last week, Abubakar said the 2027 general election will be his last attempt at the presidency.
He added that young Nigerians seeking power should learn the ropes from older leaders and gain experience first.
“I personally believe that they require experience and tutelage from the older generation,” he said.
Abubakar has run for the number one office six times, but has been on the ballot as a presidential candidate on three occasions — 2007, 2019, and 2023.
Speaking on Monday on ‘Prime Time’, an Arise Television programme, Umeh, who is also a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said he expected the former vice-president to begin mentoring a new generation of leaders.
“I was thinking he would be at the point where he would be considering leaving the stage for younger people, but he said he is contesting,” Umeh said.
“So it means everything everybody has said over the past months did not resonate with him.
“And if he holds on to that ground that he cannot build the younger ones to succeed him and make him a father, then it means nobody is ready to concede an inch at all.”
The senator said Abubakar’s perennial ambition could imperil the ADC.
“He has been running since 2003. We respect him — he is a strong politician with influence. But there is a time you say, ‘I’ve done it, let me prop up others,’” he said.
Umeh warned that competition among leading opposition figures could weaken efforts to build a viable platform to challenge the ruling party.
“If they go all out to wrestle, it may get to a point where some people will have bloody nose in the end and the thing that would suffer would be the party and this effort to bring viable platform that would contest the election against the ruling party will not make any sense,” he said.
ALSO READ:
He also cautioned that such rivalry could create divisions that may undermine opposition cohesion ahead of the elections.
On recent political developments, Umeh dismissed reports that Peter Obi, 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, visited Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, to negotiate a step-down arrangement.
He described the meeting as a routine political consultation among aspirants.
“This is a season for consultations. It is normal for people aspiring for the same office to talk to each other,” he said.
“Obi’s visit was a noble one with good intentions. They were not discussing stepping down. That is a misrepresentation.”
Umeh added that Amaechi is aware that Obi did not ask him to withdraw from the race.
The Cable
You must be logged in to post a comment Login