Atiku Unveils Team for 2027 Election Campaign

(ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Photo Credit: X / atiku)

Atiku Abubakar has assembled his 2027 election campaign team with a deliberate focus on keeping things tight and functional.

He named Kashim Ibrahim-Imam chairman of the National Campaign Council, with former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai as deputy.

Austin Akobundu will handle day-to-day operations as director-general and campaign manager.

The structure deliberately mirrors the economic squeeze ordinary Nigerians face.

Atiku said families are doing more with less, so his campaign must show the same restraint and discipline it plans to bring to government.

There will be no bloated apparatus filled with ornamental titles and patronage posts.

Instead, the operation centres on six functional directorates with 30 directors assigned specific tasks.

Each person answers for results.

Dele Momodu, the veteran journalist and publisher, heads media and communications.

Economist Mohammed Hayatudeen leads policy development alongside Professor Mohammed Sagagi.

Dino Melaye handles national mobilisation and public outreach.

John Oyegun, the ex-Edo governor and founding APC chairman, chairs the Campaign Advisory Council with Senator Ben Obi and Lawal Batagarawa as deputies.

The campaign targets urgent issues plaguing Nigeria: runaway prices, unemployment, insecurity and vanishing purchasing power.

Operations formally begin August 19, though candidates are already meeting stakeholders ahead of the official start.

However, former Central Bank deputy governor Kingsley Moghalu swiftly rejected being listed as part of the policy team.

He was never asked and didn't consent to having his name attached to Atiku's effort.

Moghalu exited partisan politics in 2022 and has stayed neutral since, belonging to no party.

He now leads a non-partisan policy think tank and advises on geopolitical strategy.

His commitment to Nigeria, he said, doesn't require picking sides in elections.