Tinubu didn’t donate AC to Atiku in 2007, it was coalition — Paul Ibe
By Adegboyega Adeleye
Paul Ibe, the spokesperson for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has challenged assertions made by Arise News anchor Rufai Oseni regarding the origins of the Action Congress (AC) party. Oseni claimed that President Bola Tinubu “donated” the AC platform to Atiku for the 2007 presidential election, a statement Ibe categorically rejected.
In a statement released on his official X account on Friday, Ibe described the narrative that Tinubu, then the Governor of Lagos State and now the President, merely transferred his party to Atiku as misleading. He emphasized that the AC was formed as a result of a wider political realignment involving multiple factions, rather than a unilateral decision by Tinubu.
“There has been considerable misinformation about how the Action Congress (AC) emerged,” Ibe stated. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
According to Ibe, the AC was established in 2006 during a political realignment that included Tinubu’s faction of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), along with the Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), the Justice Party, and other smaller groups. This coalition was formed in response to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s attempts to pursue a third term.
Ibe noted that significant figures involved in this political shift included Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, and Chief Adebayo Adefarati from the AD side. On the ACD/PDP side, he listed Atiku, Audu Ogbeh, Lawal Kaita, Bashir Dalhatu, and Gali Na’Abba.
Ibe referenced Akande’s autobiography, which states, “In 2007, we formed a party, the AC with Abubakar Atiku.” He further explained that there was an understanding that Atiku would be the presidential candidate, with Tinubu potentially serving as his running mate, although this arrangement did not materialize as Atiku was opposed to a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Atiku ultimately ran for the presidency in 2007 under the AC banner, with Senator Ben Obi as his running mate. Ibe also pointed to the perspective of former AC national chairman Chief Tom Ikimi, who characterized the AC as a coalition rather than a party personally owned by Tinubu.
Ibe rejected claims that Atiku failed to reciprocate any political support from Tinubu, citing their longstanding political partnership which dates back to the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) era. He highlighted their cooperation during the 2003 elections, when Atiku chose to support Tinubu against efforts by the PDP to undermine the AD in the South-West.
“The history is not one of Tinubu simply giving Atiku a political platform and receiving nothing in return. Atiku and Tinubu were political partners who exchanged favors over the years,” Ibe stated.
As both men prepare for a potential rematch in the upcoming 2027 presidential elections—with Atiku representing the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Tinubu seeking re-election on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform—Ibe stressed that reducing the relationship between the two leaders to a simple benefactor-beneficiary dynamic is an oversimplification.
“To reduce that complex history to such a relationship is not merely an oversimplification; it is a distortion of the political record,” Ibe concluded.
