A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s 2027 presidential ambition as a “mirage” in the face of Nigeria’s entrenched North-South zoning arrangement.

Okechukwu made the assertion while reacting to reports that Atiku had engaged a Washington-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., in a $1.2 million deal aimed at boosting his international image ahead of the next general elections.

According to him, while such international outreach may improve perception abroad, it does not address what he described as Atiku’s “core political handicap” at home—his alleged disregard for the zoning convention.

“Zoning remains the irreducible minimum in Nigeria’s power-sharing formula. No amount of foreign image laundering can override a deeply rooted domestic consensus built on equity, fairness, and national cohesion,” Okechukwu said.

He argued that since 1999, Nigeria’s political landscape has largely been guided by an informal but influential rotation of the presidency between the North and South to promote unity and inclusion.

Okechukwu said Atiku’s repeated presidential bids, particularly in 2023, were weakened by the prevailing sentiment that power should rotate to the South after eight years of northern leadership. He added that the same political reality is likely to shape the 2027 election.

He recalled that zoning considerations influenced Atiku’s political trajectory, including his exit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014 and dynamics around the 2018 PDP primaries.

He also cited past northern political leaders such as Abubakar Rimi, Adamu Ciroma, Umaru Shinkafi, and the late Abubakar Olusola Saraki, saying they upheld the principle of zoning for national stability.

Okechukwu further noted that Atiku benefitted from the arrangement when he became Vice President in 1999, arguing that it would be contradictory to ignore the same principle in his current political ambition.

“Political legitimacy in Nigeria is not built in Washington or any foreign capital. It is earned at home through respect for established conventions and sensitivity to the country’s diversity,” he said.

He concluded that unless Atiku and his political strategists address the zoning question, his 2027 ambition would remain unrealistic.

“Leadership is anchored on trust and inclusiveness. Without aligning with these principles, especially zoning, Atiku’s 2027 ambition will continue to appear more like a mirage than a viable path to power,” he added.