Atiku made the statement in a BBC interview while explaining why he remains determined to contest the 2027 presidential election despite his previous attempts to become Nigeria’s president.
The former vice president, who is seeking the presidency under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), also described himself as physically fit and capable of leading the country.
“We have a president who is 90 years old now and who is sick, and I am healthy; I am strong, so why would I not make my services available to my fellow countrymen?” Atiku said.
The interviewer, however, challenged the statement, noting that Tinubu is not officially 90 years old.
“The president is not yet 90, and we cannot confirm nor deny anything about his age,” the interviewer said.
In response, Atiku maintained that he had documentary records backing his position and said he would make them available in court.
“I have evidence and records that he is, and I will present it in court,” he said.
Atiku also defended his decision to remain in the presidential race after several unsuccessful attempts, saying his political career had been marked by repeated challenges.
He recalled contesting for governor on four occasions and attributed some of the difficulties he faced to the military authorities that oversaw Nigeria’s transition to democracy.
“I ran for governor four times, because at that position, the people who were in charge of our transition to democracy were military, and I was so anti-military that any time I won, they would disqualify me,” he said.
He further recalled an incident in which he said his life was threatened, forcing him to leave the country.
“And the last was when there was even an attempt on my life, and I went into exile,” he added.
According to Atiku, his repeated presidential bids are consistent with the pattern of his political career and should not be regarded as unusual.
“So I have never found anything easy in my life. There is nothing new there. So because I’m contesting the presidency two or three times, I mean, that’s not anything unusual in my life, in my political life,” he said.
Asked why Nigerians should support him over other contenders, Atiku pointed to his constitutional right to seek elective office and again stressed his physical fitness.
“I am strong. I am healthy. I am agile. Why do you bother about my constitutional rights?” he said.
He said his desire to return to the presidential race was also driven by his assessment of the country’s current condition.
“Because things are not going right. Things are not going right,” Atiku said.
He identified experience, competence and patriotism as some of the qualities he believes qualify him to serve as president.
“I have the experience. I have the competence. I have the patriotism. So why would I not make all this available to the service of my country?” he asked.
On insecurity, Atiku blamed what he described as poor government attention to the country’s defence requirements for the worsening security situation.
“I believe it is the irresponsibility of government, because they have not paid attention to our defense needs,” he said.
He argued that Nigeria’s security forces lack sufficient personnel and modern equipment to effectively tackle insurgency and other forms of criminality.
“One, the defence is undermanned,” he said. “In other words, we have not had enough boots on ground in this country, and not good equipment.”
Atiku cited Egypt as an example, arguing that Nigeria’s population is significantly larger while its police personnel are comparatively fewer.
“I remember when we were in office, I told the president that, look, we are over 200 million people, and yet we have less than 200,000 policemen,” he said.
“Egypt that has about 80 million (people) had one million policemen on the streets. And therefore, there is peace there.”
The former vice president said he would expect Nigerians to see substantial improvement in the security situation within his first year in office if elected.
“I believe within one year, they should be able to see that, and believe me, within one year, we can control this insurgency and insecurity that is all over the place,” he said.
Atiku is among the opposition politicians positioning themselves for the 2027 presidential contest as efforts intensify to build a political challenge against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Tinubu.
His political history includes several presidential contests stretching back more than three decades.
He first sought the presidency in 1993 during the Social Democratic Party primaries, where he finished behind Moshood Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe.
In 2007, he contested the presidential election as the candidate of the Action Congress and finished third behind Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari.
He later returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he contested its presidential primary in 2011 but lost the party’s ticket to then-President Goodluck Jonathan.
In 2015, Atiku joined the APC and participated in the party’s presidential primary, which was won by Buhari.
He subsequently returned to the PDP and secured its presidential ticket for the 2019 election. He lost the general election to Buhari.
Atiku again emerged as the PDP presidential candidate in 2023 but was defeated by Tinubu.
The 2027 election would therefore mark another attempt by the former vice president to secure Nigeria’s highest elective office.
