Sadique Abubakar, former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi, has announced his resignation from active politics.
Abubakar served as Nigeria’s chief of air staff between 2015 and 2021 under the administration of late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
After his retirement, he was appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to Chad and, in 2022, secured the APC governorship ticket in Bauchi ahead of the 2023 elections.
He placed second in the poll with 432,272 votes behind Bala Mohammed, the incumbent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who won with 525,280 votes.
The former air force chief was viewed as a potential ADC governorship hopeful for the 2027 elections following recent consultations with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
But in a terse statement on Sunday, Abubakar said he is stepping away from “the murky waters of Nigerian politics”.
“I say Good bye to the murky waters of Nigerian Politics,” he wrote on his official X account.
“I no longer belong to any political party and will therefore not vie for any office.
“However I will continue to support ordinary Nigerians to the best of my ability.”
Abubakar resigned from the APC and joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in July 2025 after aligning with the opposition coalition leaders.