Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar met with a delegation of Gombe State political stakeholders on Saturday to get support for his 2027 presidential ambition.

Mr Abubakar, 78, who will turn 80 by 2027, announced the outcome of his meeting with members of the African Democratic Congress team from Gombe State in a post on X.

Posting a picture of his meeting with a delegation of Gombe stakeholders led by a former minister and Senator Idris Abdullahi, Mr Abubakar said, “I am further inspired by the Gombe stakeholders’ pledge of total support and loyalty to the decision of the coalition by joining the ADC. I vowed to stand against the stealing of elections and oppose bad governance.’’

Mr Abubakar’s meeting with Gombe ADC stakeholders followed opposition politicians’ adoption of the party to challenge incumbent President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress in 2027.

The former president will be taking his seventh shot at the presidency, having contested the presidency six times.

In 1993, Mr Abubakar contested on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform. After serving two terms as vice president upon return to democracy in 1999, Mr Abubakar in 2007, contested on the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) platform, losing to Umar Ya’Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He challenged former President Goodluck Jonathan in the PDP’s primaries in 2011 and lost. After joining the All Progressives Congress in 2014 ahead of the 2015 election, Mr Abubakar lost the presidential primaries to Mr Muhammadu Buhari.

The former vice president returned to the PDP in 2017 and lost the presidential election to Mr Buhari of the APC in 2019. He contested against Mr Tinubu in 2023 and also lost.