A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Bode George, has attributed former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar’s decision to leave the party to an excessive ambition to become Nigeria’s President in 2027.

Naijaonpoint reports that Atiku communicated his decision to leave the main opposition party in a letter to the PDP Chairman, Jada 1 ward, Jada LGA, Adamawa State.

Reacting to the reasons given by Atiku to justify his resignation, Bode George, in an interview with Punch, asserted that Atiku contributed to the mess in the opposition party.

The retired Navy Commodore stated that Atiku’s ambition to be president has consumed his inner strength and thoughts, stressing that the former Vice President would have been president in 2007 but was misled by President Bola Tinubu to work against ex-president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

He said, “It (Atiku’s resignation) is very shocking to me. I have been praying that the Almighty God will work on his mind and allow him to reflect very deeply and do a very deep-rooted introspection of his political life. He has walked this path before. He joined Bola Tinubu, but they deceived him, and he ran back to the PDP.

“He is no longer a young man. What I can decipher is that this ambition to be President has taken over his inner strength and thoughts. As a leader of this party, he should realise that what we do in the PDP is zoning. Eight years in the North and eight years in the South. He knows for sure that he cannot get our presidential ticket in 2027. He has to wait until 2031.

“We don’t have the power to prevent anybody from taking the ticket of another party, but in PDP, no sir. We must obey our constitution. They manipulated the constitution in the past, and all those who participated in that process have headed to the ADC.

“Who created the mess that Atiku is talking about? He would have been President since 2007 when Baba Obasanjo left. He was the Vice President, but he was perpetually deceived by Bola Tinubu. He was working with Tinubu to make sure Obasanjo did only one term.

“When he led the team that walked out of our national convention and joined Tinubu’s party, what was he thinking? When they were beaten mercilessly, he returned home. Who is Atiku deceiving? I urge his children to tell their father that enough is enough.

“By 2027, he would be 81. What does he want to do at 81? He should start preparing grounds for the young ones to take over. The PDP honoured and mentored him. He was number two for eight years. What does he want? Is he the only one in this country?”

Meanwhile, a reliable source within Atiku’s camp confirmed to the aforementioned publication that Atiku was moving to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to pursue his presidential ambition.

He said, “Of course, he’s heading to the ADC. He will formally register and declare his presidential ambition in the coming days.”