A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Solomon Dalung, has claimed that supporters of the party received a phone call from the grave of former President Muhammadu Buhari, urging them to vote for Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election.
Dalung, a former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, made the claim on Thursday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
He said Atiku, the ADC presidential candidate, had inherited the political structures of former presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Buhari, adding that the former vice-president had a strong national political network.
According to Dalung, the recent visit by Aisha Buhari, widow of the late president, to Atiku’s residence in Abuja signalled the transfer of Buhari’s political support base to the ADC candidate.
“The message she took for any politician to know is that the 12 million votes have been successfully transferred. We have had a phone call from the grave of Buhari that we should vote Atiku,” he said.
Buhari secured about 12.2 million votes in the 2011 presidential election, 15.4 million in 2015 and 15.2 million in 2019.
Dalung expressed confidence that Atiku would defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027, even if the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) attempted to disrupt the ADC’s campaign activities.
“I am confident that as events are unfolding, Tinubu, even if he would take over the ADC secretariat and stop ADC from campaigning, he cannot defeat Atiku Abubakar in 2027,” he said.
He also argued that Atiku’s political support base was more significant than the crowds politicians mobilise during rallies, which he described as “rented crowds”.
Dalung served as Minister of Sports and Youth Development under Buhari between November 2015 and May 2019.
However, the former minister had on Wednesday criticised the ADC leadership, accusing the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, of unilaterally appointing caretaker committees across states.
He argued that the appointments undermined a pending case before the Supreme Court and questioned the party’s commitment to winning the 2027 general election.
Buhari, who ruled Nigeria as a military head of state between 1983 and 1985 and later served as civilian president from 2015 to 2023, died at a London clinic on July 13, 2025.
