Dalung, a former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, made the claim during an appearance on Channels Television.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the ADC, is expected to contest the presidency against incumbent President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), and other candidates.
Speaking on Atiku’s chances, Dalung said the former vice-president has a national political structure and has inherited the political support bases of former presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Buhari.
Buhari polled 15.4 million and 15.2 million votes in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections, respectively, after securing about 12.2 million votes in the 2011 election, which he contested under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
Dalung said the visit of Buhari’s wife, Aisha, to Atiku’s residence in Abuja last month signalled the transfer of the late president’s political support to the ADC candidate.
“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.
Dalung expressed confidence that Atiku would defeat Tinubu in 2027, irrespective of what he described as possible attempts to frustrate the ADC’s participation in the election.
“I am confident that as events are unfolding, Tinubu, even if he would take over the ADC secretariat and stop ADC from campaigning, he cannot defeat Atiku Abubakar in 2027,” he said.
The former minister also argued that Atiku’s political support base was more significant than the crowds politicians attract during rallies, which he described as “rented crowds”.
Dalung served as minister under Buhari between November 2015 and May 2019.
However, on Wednesday, he criticised the ADC leadership, accusing the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, of unilaterally appointing caretaker committees across the states.
He said the appointments undermined a case pending before the Supreme Court and questioned the party’s commitment to securing victory in the 2027 general election.
Buhari, who ruled Nigeria as a military head of state between 1983 and 1985 and as a civilian president from 2015 to 2023, died at a London clinic on July 13, 2025.
