The Obidient Movement has reacted to a statement by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that he will not step down for an aspirant in his quest to secure the African Democratic Congress ticket for the 2027 presidential race.

Naijaonpoint reports Atiku had on Wednesday in an interview with BBC Hausa said he was prepared to contest ADC presidential primaries but would step aside if a younger aspirant defeated him.

“If I run for office, and a young man defeats me, I will accept that. The party we have joined now prioritises youth and women,” he said.

A few hours after the interview went viral, Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, issued a statement, stressing that the VP has no plan to step down for anyone.

Ibe explained that a careful review of both the video and transcripts of the interview showed that Atiku never said, suggested, or implied that he intended to step down for anyone.

Speaking to Punch, the National Coordinator of the group, Yunusa Tanko, accused Atiku of playing mind games.

He asserted that his principal would never be caught in the murky politics of vote-buying or dollarized delegate inducement that dominate Nigeria’s political parties’ primaries.

Yunusa stated that Obi’s political ideology stood in sharp contrast to the transactional politics that other politicians had normalised.

He said, “I’m happy Atiku is saying what he has in mind. It shows there’s something we can hold him accountable for. But Peter Obi is willing to bring new political ideology into the system.

“I can say it authoritatively that an Obi will never go into a primary election where he has to buy out the delegates. We know that is the norm in other camps.

“It is a fact that in Nigeria of today, delegates in every primary are being purchased. It is even in dollars and not naira. And for those of us who want to give hope to the younger generation, who may not have stolen or receive so much money from governors’ purse, how do you encourage them?”