2027: El-Rufai leads Atiku, Tambuwal, others to Buhari


A former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Friday led the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari at his Kaduna residence.
Also on the trip to the former president’s house were ex-Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, former Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami, and former governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa.
The rest are former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam; and his Adamawa State counterpart, Jibrilla Bindow.
The visit was Atiku’s second to former President Buhari’s home in the last eight months.
He was, however, silent on issues discussed at the meeting.
He paid a Sallah homage to the former Nigerian leader at his residence in Daura, Katsina, in July 2024.
El-Rufai, a close ally of former President Buhari, dumped the APC for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in March.
There were reports that Atiku, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, and others are also planning to join the SDP, which is fast turning into a Special Purpose Vehicle for disgruntled politicians in the country.
The opposition elements’ visit to the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain was part of the ongoing efforts to rally support for the planned coalition of aggrieved members of the APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) and other concerned citizens against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.
The former Vice President confirmed the visit on his verified X handle on Friday.
He said the delegation had a “wonderful time” with the former president.
Atiku wrote: “As the Waziri Adamawa, I was obligated to be in Adamawa during the Sallah celebrations. I held forth for the Lamido Fombina (Adamawa) in some of the activities of the Sallah celebrations.
“Today, I had the opportunity to pay a post-Sallah visit to His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2015-2023.
“It was a wonderful time with him. As usual, he cracked me up (to the extent that my ribs were hurting) with his peculiar humour.”