Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has once again exited the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), marking the third time he has abandoned the party he helped establish in 1998.
In a resignation letter dated July 14, 2025, addressed to the PDP chairman of his Jada 1 Ward in Adamawa State, Atiku cited “irreconcilable differences” and the party’s deviation from its founding ideals.
His resignation, though long speculated, comes at a time when political momentum for the 2027 elections is building.
Atiku expressed gratitude to the PDP for the platform it provided during his political career—most notably as Vice President and two-time presidential flagbearer—but noted that the party had strayed too far from its vision.
His departure is being interpreted as a strategic move to spearhead a new opposition coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), where he now leads a group of political figures planning to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
This development recalls Atiku’s long and checkered political journey, characterized by multiple defections.
He left the PDP in 2006 for the Action Congress (AC), returned in 2011, joined the APC in 2014, and returned yet again to the PDP in 2017.
His strained relationships within the PDP, especially with key figures like Nyesom Wike and members of the PDP Governors’ Forum, played a role in this latest move.
Despite efforts by party leaders to keep him within the fold, Atiku’s ambitions and the internal crisis within the PDP made reconciliation impossible.
While some PDP stalwarts, like Governor Seyi Makinde, insist Atiku’s departure poses no threat, others say it reflects the fragmentation of Nigeria’s opposition.
For Atiku, this is yet another chapter in his relentless pursuit of the presidency—one that now continues under a new banner as the 2027 race begins to take shape.
Writing by Gladys Omamogho