Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said his principal deserves a Nobel Prize for his consistency and persistence in aspiring to become Nigeria’s president.

Atiku, who has been a recurring figure in Nigeria’s presidential contests since 1992, is already being mentioned in conversations around the 2027 elections, though he has not formally declared his candidacy.

Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme on Thursday, Ibe dismissed claims that Atiku has contested “too many times,” stressing that the former Vice President has only been on the ballot three times — in 2007 under the Action Congress (AC), and in 2019 and 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

When pressed that Atiku had also been an aspirant in 2011 and 2025, bringing the tally to five attempts, Ibe quipped:

“Atiku Abubakar should get a Nobel Prize for that. The former Vice President feels he still has something to offer.”

Ibe explained that Atiku’s repeated bids are driven by a sense of duty to Nigeria, a country he said had given the Adamawa-born politician “so much.”

“Don’t forget, you’ve read his books. He has often said he feels obligated to Nigeria — a country that gave him the opportunity of education when he was young, the chance to work in the Customs, and afterwards the ability to go into business,” Ibe noted.

He recalled that Atiku was already a billionaire before becoming Nigeria’s Vice President in 1999 and pointed out that he made significant contributions to the PDP, including purchasing its national secretariat in Abuja.

“Atiku single-handedly bought the Wadata Plaza for the PDP. That was how wealthy he was before entering government,” Ibe said.

Atiku, now 79, has been a prominent figure in Nigeria’s politics for over three decades, with his ambitions for the presidency remaining a defining feature of his career.