A former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, has claimed that supporters of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) received a message from the grave of former President Muhammadu Buhari, urging them to vote for Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election.

Dalung made the remark on Thursday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he expressed confidence that Atiku, the ADC presidential candidate, would defeat President Bola Tinubu at the polls.

According to the former minister, Atiku has inherited the political structures of former presidents Buhari and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, giving him a formidable nationwide support base.

He also linked the recent visit by Buhari’s widow, Aisha Buhari, to Atiku’s Abuja residence to what he described as a transfer of the late president’s political support to the ADC candidate.

Dalung argued that the visit carried a significant political message, suggesting that Buhari’s supporters, estimated at 12 million voters, would back Atiku in 2027.

“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.

He further dismissed the possibility of Tinubu defeating Atiku, claiming that even if the President took control of the ADC national secretariat and prevented the party from campaigning, it would not stop the former vice-president from winning.

Dalung also argued that Atiku’s political strength should not be measured by the crowds politicians attract at rallies, which he described as rented supporters.

Buhari, who served as Nigeria’s military ruler from 1983 to 1985 and civilian president from 2015 to 2023, died in a London clinic on July 13, 2025.

Dalung served as Minister of Sports and Youth Development under Buhari between November 2015 and May 2019.