Serial Defector: A Timeline of Atiku Abubakar’s Party Defections

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has resigned from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a political platform he helped found in 1998, citing a departure from the party’s founding principles. In a letter dated July 14 and addressed to the chairman of the Jada 1 Ward, Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Atiku said his resignation was with immediate effect.  

“I find it necessary to part ways due to the current trajectory the Party has taken, which I believe diverges from the foundational principles we stood for,” he wrote “It is with a heavy heart that I resign, recognizing the irreconciliable differences that have emerged.”

Atiku, who served as Nigeria’s vice president between 1999 and 2007, expressed gratitude to the PDP for the platform it provided him to contest the presidency twice – in 2019 and 2023. A perennial presidential contender, Atiku has sought Nigeria’s top job six times since 1993 under different political banners, including the People’s Democratic Party (in 2019 and 2023) and the Action Congress (in 2007).

 This announcement marks the third time Atiku has departed from the PDP and the fifth time overall he has defected from a political party of which he is a member. 

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to Action Congress (AC)

Atiku Abubakar was elected governor of his home state, Adamawa, in 1999 on the PDP ticket, but before he could be sworn in as governor, he was picked as running mate by Olusegun Obasanjo who had secured the PDP presidential ticket. The ticket proceeded to win Obasanjo the presidency, with Atiku acting as Vice President from May 29, 1999 and for a second term in 2003.

Before the end of their second term, however, Atiku left the PDP for the first time in 2006 after years of internal battle with Obasanjo over succession plans. Atiku’s influence in the PDP was also being systematically eroded through fresh membership registration that saw most of his supporters pushed out of the party.Subsequently, Atiku joined the Action Congress party  to contest the 2007 presidential election. He lost to PDP’s Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. 

Action Congress (AC) to People’s Democratic Party (PDP)

Atiku remained a member of the AC from 2006 to 2009. Following disagreements with one of the leaders of the AC, current president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku left the AC and returned to the PDP in 2009. He sought the PDP presidential ticket in 2011 but lost to incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC)

After the success of the party in 2011 and its appointment of Bamanga Tukur as national chairman in 2012, the PDP was engulfed in a serious crisis. Atiku, alongside seven governors, eventually staged a walk out during a PDP national convention in August 2013, accusing the leadership of the party and then President Jonathan of impunity. Ahead of the 2015 elections, Atiku again defected, this time to the newly formed APC, citing lack of internal democracy in the PDP. He contested the APC presidential primary but lost to Muhammadu Buhari, who later defeated Jonathan in the general election and won the presidency.

All Progressives Congress (APC) to People’s Democratic Party (PDP)

After nearly four years in the APC, Atiku returned to the PDP in 2017, criticising the APC for failing to deliver on its promises and sidelining party stakeholders. He secured the PDP’s presidential ticket for the 2019 election but lost to Buhari. In 2023, Atiku was again the standard-bearer of the PDP against Bola Ahmed Tinubu (APC) but lost again at the polls, with Tinubu winning the general elections.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to African Democratic Congress (ADC)

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the former Vice President, who is currently spearheading a coalition force under the ADC against the ruling APC, alongside other prominent opposition political figures including Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and ex-Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, has officially  once again dumped the PDP for the coalition party.