We received phone call from Buhari’s grave to vote Atiku in 2027, says Dalung

Solomon Dalung, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), says supporters of the party have received a phone call from the grave of former President Muhammadu Buhari, imploring them to vote for Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 elections.

The ex-minister of sports and youth development spokeon Thursday during an appearance on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.

Atiku, presidential candidate of the ADC, is contesting the nation’s highest office with incumbent President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), and a slew of other candidates.

Dalung said Atiku has a national political structure, adding that the ADC flagbearer has inherited the political structures of former presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Buhari.

In the 2015 and 2019 elections, Buhari polled 15.4 million and 15.2 million votes, respectively.

He had earlier secured about 12.2 million votes in the 2011 election, which he contested on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

Dalung said Aisha Buhari, wife of the late president, paid a visit to Atiku at his residence in Abuja last month, adding that the courtesy call signalled the transfer of Buhari’s 12 million votes to the ADC presidential 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.

“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.”

Dalung added that Atiku’s political support base is more significant than the horde politicians pull during rallies, which he described as “rented crowds”.

Dalung served as minister under Buhari between November 2015 and May 2019.

On Wednesday, he criticised the ADC leadership, accusing Rauf Aregbesola, the party’s national secretary, of unilaterally appointing caretaker committees across the states.

He said the move undermined a pending case before the supreme court and suggested that the party was not committed to securing victory in the next election.

Buhari, Nigeria’s military ruler from 1983 to 1985; and civilian president from 2015 to 2023,  died on July 13, 2025 in a London clinic. (TheCable)