Questions over the sincerity of Abubakar \u201cAbba\u201d Atiku\u2019s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) dominated political discourse on Thursday after a party chieftain, Joe Igbokwe,<\/strong> openly expressed both excitement and suspicion over the development.<\/p>\n Reacting via a social media post, Igbokwe said he welcomed reports that the son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar<\/strong> had joined the ruling party but warned against possible internal sabotage.<\/p>\n \u201cI hear that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar\u2019s son has joined APC. I hope it is real oooo. We do not want a mole in the house oooo. Ka fi suru oooooo,\u201d<\/em> Igbokwe wrote.<\/p>\n Abia Radio News<\/strong> reports that Abba Atiku formally defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC on January 15 at an event held at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.<\/p>\n He was received into the party by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), in the presence of senior APC leaders from the North-East geopolitical zone.<\/p>\n At the event, the younger Atiku pledged to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu\u2019s re-election bid in 2027 and directed members of his political structure to align with the APC\u2019s Renewed Hope Agenda.<\/p>\n Abba\u2019s decision has generated widespread attention, given its timing, coming shortly after his father, Atiku Abubakar, exited the PDP for the African Democratic Congress.<\/p>\n Atiku\u2019s move to the ADC is widely viewed as part of a broader strategy to build an opposition coalition capable of challenging the APC in the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n The contrasting political paths taken by father and son have further intensified debate across Nigeria\u2019s political space.<\/p>\n Responding to the defection, the former Vice President said his son\u2019s decision was \u201centirely personal\u201d and should not be interpreted as a reflection of his own political convictions.<\/p>\n In a statement shared on his social media platforms, Atiku stressed that democracy thrives on freedom of choice, even within families.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a democrat, I do not coerce my own children in matters of conscience, and I certainly will not coerce Nigerians,<\/em>\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Atiku reiterated his criticism of the APC-led Federal Government and reaffirmed his commitment to working with allies to present Nigerians with an alternative platform ahead of 2027.<\/p>\n Abia Radio News<\/strong> reports that reactions within the APC have been mixed. While some party leaders hailed Abba\u2019s defection as symbolic, others urged caution.<\/p>\n The APC National Vice Chairman (North-East), Mustapha Salihu, described the move as reflective of \u201cpolitics without borders,\u201d welcoming the younger Atiku into the party.<\/p>\n Senator Barau Jibrin also praised Abba\u2019s decision, describing it as bold and driven by conviction rather than family loyalty.<\/p>\n A presidential aide, Alhaji Mahmoud Abdullahi, went further, characterising the defection as a \u201creturn home\u201d to the ruling party.<\/p>\n The Lagos State chapter of the APC took a more combative stance, describing Abba\u2019s defection as a serious blow to Atiku Abubakar\u2019s political credibility.<\/p>\n In a statement issued by its spokesman, Seye Oladejo, the party said it observed \u201cwith unmistakable clarity the political earthquake\u201d<\/em> caused by Abba\u2019s decision to abandon what it termed a \u201cpretentious ADC contraption\u201d for the APC.<\/p>\n \u201cThis singular act has said more than a thousand press conferences ever could,\u201d<\/em> Oladejo said.<\/p>\n He added, \u201cWhen a man\u2019s own son deserts his political judgment, repudiates his choices, and embraces an alternative path, Nigerians are entitled to ask what deeper indictment of credibility is required.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf those closest to you are unconvinced by your political convictions, how do you expect an entire nation to suspend disbelief?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n However, not all APC members shared the celebratory mood. A former APC presidential aspirant, Adamu Garba, cautioned party faithful against excessive jubilation, describing the defection as troubling rather than a cause for celebration.<\/p>\n Abia Radio News<\/strong> reports that Abba Atiku\u2019s defection is the latest in a series of political cross-carpeting reshaping party alignments nationwide.<\/p>\n The trend has been particularly pronounced in the North, where both the APC and the emerging opposition coalition around the ADC are intensifying manoeuvres ahead of the 2027 general elections.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Questions over the sincerity of Abubakar \u201cAbba\u201d Atiku\u2019s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) dominated political discourse on Thursday after a party chieftain, Joe Igbokwe, openly expressed both excitement and suspicion over the development. Reacting via a social media post, Igbokwe said he welcomed reports that the son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":239623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[2732,287,439,2733],"class_list":["post-239622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-abba-atiku","tag-apc","tag-atiku-abubakar","tag-joe-igbokwe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/joe-igbokwe.webp.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}