Why Atiku left PDP — Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) due to his unrelenting ambition to secure a presidential ticket.

Tribune Online reports that Atiku’s resignation from the PDP was confirmed in a letter dated Monday, July 14, 2025, and addressed to the chairman of the PDP in Jada 1 Ward, Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

This letter was made public on Wednesday in a post shared by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, on X.

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Reacting to the development, Wike, during a media parley in Abuja on Monday, attributed Atiku’s frequent defections from political parties to his presidential ambition.

Atiku was in the PDP in 1999, then he joined the Action Congress (AC). After AC, he returned to the PDP, moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and later came back to the PDP all in the name of pursuing a presidential ticket,” Wike said.

He added: “If I were his son, I would sit him down and ask: ‘Dad, why are you jumping from one party to another at nearly 80 years old?’”

Wike dismissed the opposition coalition against President Bola Tinubu and the APC.

He noted that Atiku’s recent call for a coalition after he left PDP was simply a strategy born out of his inability to secure the PDP ticket.

“The way the PDP is now, it’s unlikely Atiku will get the ticket, so it becomes uncomfortable for him. That’s why he’s talking about a coalition against Tinubu. It’s not right,” he said.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE