Atiku's son Abba unveils Tinubu 2027 mobilisation plan, pledges 10 buses

Abba Atiku Abubakar, son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has formally launched a campaign platform for President Bola Tinubu's re-election in 2027, setting himself against his father's own presidential bid.

Abba presented the Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation (HBTO) at the All Progressives Congress (APC) national secretariat in Abuja on Friday, according to reports by BusinessDay, Vanguard and Punch. Punch reported that he was received by the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Bukar Dalori.

His father, Atiku, is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 election. Abba left the Peoples Democratic Party for the APC in January, Punch reported.

What the group plans

Abba said HBTO will hold a two-million-man mobilisation march across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones, beginning in Abuja. He said the group's immediate focus is the Federal Capital Territory, where it will work with the FCT Minister, whom he called a key political leader in its structure.

He said HBTO is also aligning with the minister's goal of delivering both the FCT and Rivers State for Tinubu, and is preparing a major mobilisation exercise in Rivers in the first week of November.

The group also plans to provide 10 luxury buses to ease transport costs for ordinary Nigerians, starting in Abuja before spreading to other states. Punch reported the buses as a donation to support campaign mobilisation, while Vanguard and BusinessDay described them as a transport support initiative.

Abba said the reforms of the Tinubu administration have brought "difficult adjustments for Nigerians" but pointed to gains he said they would deliver. He named the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which he said offers students interest-free loans, road investments, higher monthly allocations to states through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), and the N70,000 transport support for public workers.

Family ties and politics

Asked about opposing his father, Abba said political conviction is a matter of personal judgement and conscience. "I hold no reservations about the right of others to their differing political opinions, just as I expect my own convictions to be respected," he said.

For ordinary Nigerians, the immediate takeaway is a transport promise in Abuja and a campaign machine being built well ahead of the 2027 vote. Whether the buses arrive, and how the march is funded, is not yet clear from the reports.

What happens next: HBTO says it will hold its Rivers State mobilisation exercise next week and begin its bus programme in the FCT before expanding nationwide.