A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ayekooto Akindele, has mocked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over what he described as a desperate search for a southern running mate ahead of the 2027 presidential elections.

Akindele claimed that Atiku's options have become limited following the "high possibility of Obi's refusal" to be his running mate. The APC chieftain suggested that Atiku might now have to consider alternatives such as Timi Frank, Bode George, Debo Ologbondiyan, Rotimi Amaechi, or Tom Ikimi.

In a Facebook post, Akindele wrote: "With the high possibility of Obi's refusal, Atiku is desperately shopping for a southern running mate and since he cannot get any SS governor to accept and to fund him, his options are limited to Timi Frank, AdeDancer, Bode George, Ologbondiyan, Amaechi or Tom Ikimi."

This development comes after Peter Obi recently clarified that his involvement in the opposition coalition was focused on fighting against bad governance, hunger, and poverty, rather than pursuing personal political ambitions.

Obi was responding to reports of an alleged agreement with Atiku that would see him serve as the former Vice President's running mate in the 2027 presidential election. According to these reports, Atiku had allegedly agreed to serve only one term if elected and was willing to formalize this arrangement in writing.

Political analysts view these developments as early positioning ahead of the 2027 general elections, with opposition parties exploring various alliance options to challenge the ruling APC.

Neither Atiku Abubakar nor his campaign has officially responded to Akindele's claims as of the time of this report.