Former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, believes that only former Vice President Atiku Abubakar can decide if he wants to run for the presidency in 2027.

Ologbondiyan made the comment on Channels Television Morning Brief on Monday, November 25, in his reaction to a call by Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, urging Atiku Abubakar to end his 31-year-long bid to be President.

According to him, the party should be able to manage the crisis that has rocked it before the elections in 2023 and push the blame on President Bola Tinubu for appointing Nyesom Wike as a cabinet minister.

"Sitting here, I can clearly say that I have not seen any direction in the party. Going to Atiku and people say that oh Atiku should drop his ambition. His ambition is personal to him. And I know, and I've also conversed, even on another platform, that it will be his own desire to say that, OK, looking at what is happening, the situation within the party, I want to sacrifice my ambition. And I want to come and provide leadership for Nigerians as well as my party. But that decision also is his to make," Ologbondiyan said.

There has been huge pressure on Atiku Abubakar to shelve his presidential ambition amid the turmoil that has rocked the PDP.

Addressing a press conference at his Ikoyi, Lagos office, George urged Atiku to assume the position of an elder in the nation and leave his bid to posterity.

The former Deputy National Chairman of the party said it was high time Atiku retired from such a contest, especially in the 2027 election.

“To Atiku, my advice is this, you will be 81 years old in 2027, and you have been contesting for the presidency since 1993. This is the time for you to calm down and act like an elder. I appeal to you in the name of the Almighty Allah, that you serve, to take it easy and leave everything for posterity,” George said.