Former vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has taken a swipe at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his persistent presidential ambitions, saying Nigeria urgently needs a new generation of leaders to rescue the country from its deepening crisis.
Speaking on the state of Nigerian politics and leadership, Datti said Atiku has remained a constant contender in presidential races for decades without delivering the change Nigerians yearn for.
Recounting his political journey, Datti said he and Atiku have crossed paths repeatedly on the presidential stage.
“When I was doing my NYSC (National Youth Service Corps), Baba Atiku was already an aspirant. In 2018, we contested primaries together. In 2023, we contested again; I as a vice president elsewhere, when his own vice president had left him. And now, for God’s sake, in 2027 again,” he said.
The Labour Party chieftain described Nigeria’s political space as hostile to genuine reformers, lamenting that capable Nigerians are being pushed out by a system dominated by godfathers, money politics and broken promises.
“There is a need for a new generation of Nigerian leaders, and they do exist,” Datti said. “A whole new generation is waiting for a new leader to lead them to a new party.”
According to him, Nigeria is not short of competent citizens who can solve the nation’s problems, but the structure of politics discourages them.
“There are good Nigerians, there are people capable of fixing Nigeria’s problems, but they are discouraged by the expensive, difficult and treacherous system full of godfathers and bad promises,” he stated.
Datti added that despite the obstacles, many Nigerians are still eager for change and are searching for credible leadership.
“There are good Nigerians who are looking for that leader to lead them to fix Nigeria’s problems,” he said.
His remarks come amid renewed speculation about Atiku’s political future and the possibility that he may seek to run for president for the seventh time, this time under his new party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC).