The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the composition of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 presidential campaign council, describing it as a “rehabilitation centre” for individuals linked to unresolved corruption allegations.
The party said the inclusion of former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, and former Chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Ngozi Olejeme, among others, raised questions about the government’s commitment to accountability and the status of corruption investigations involving them.
The ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the allegations in a statement on Saturday, following the unveiling of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 election.
According to the APC’s membership list, Mr Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima are to chair the council as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively, while APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, will serve as Vice-Chairman II. Former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, was appointed Director-General, with Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, as Secretary.
Other prominent figures appointed to the council include Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, President’s Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila and former presidential campaign operative James Faleke.
The council also appointed Ms Edu as Director of Women Mobilisation, while Ms Olejeme was named Zonal Director for Election Planning, Coordination and Mobilisation for the South-South.
ADC questions corruption cases
Reacting to the appointments, Mr Abdullahi said what should ordinarily have been a political structure for the president’s re-election campaign had instead become a platform for people facing unresolved questions about corruption and public accountability.
“We have taken note of the composition of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 campaign council. What should ordinarily be a political task team ends up looking like a rehabilitation system for individuals carrying unresolved questions of corruption and public accountability,” he said.
The ADC singled out Ms Edu, who was suspended by Mr Tinubu in January 2024 following controversy over an alleged request for the transfer of N585 million to a private account.
The former minister denied wrongdoing at the time, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) subsequently investigated the matter.
Mr Abdullahi also questioned the inclusion of Ms Olejeme, who has faced prosecution by the EFCC over alleged financial crimes connected with her tenure at the NSITF.
The ADC spokesperson said the appointments should prompt the government to explain the current status of the cases involving the two former officials.
“One important question that the inclusion of these individuals provokes is what happened to the cases involving these individuals. If they have been cleared, the government should show how and when and by whom they were cleared,” he said.
He accused the Tinubu administration of creating a pattern in which investigations into alleged financial crimes allegedly disappear before the individuals involved re-emerge in political or public positions.
The party said such developments could undermine public confidence in the government’s anti-corruption campaign.
“It has become a familiar pattern under this administration for investigations into financial crimes to quietly disappear only for the accused to suddenly reappear in a different official role,” Mr Abdullahi said.
‘2027 will be referendum on Tinubu’
The opposition party said the controversy surrounding the campaign council would not determine the outcome of the 2027 election, arguing that the poll would ultimately be an assessment of the Tinubu administration’s performance.
The ADC said the president could assemble his political allies and campaigners, but argued that the structure would not be able to shield the administration from public anger over economic hardship.
“For emphasis, the 2027 election will be a referendum on President Tinubu’s record,” the statement said.
“The President may assemble his old friends and political allies, including those carrying unresolved corruption questions, but all of their collective brooms cannot sweep away the grave pains they have brought on the Nigerian people.”
The opposition party accused the administration of failing to adequately address the rising cost of living and poverty while alleged privileges continued to accrue to individuals close to government.
It said Nigerians had been repeatedly asked to make sacrifices since the beginning of the administration’s economic reforms.
“For three years, they have told Nigerians who can barely afford food to tighten their belts, while those connected to the government continue to live in obscene opulence, feeding fat on the common wealth. The time for reckoning has come,” Mr Abdullahi said.
The ADC’s comments come as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 presidential election, with Mr Tinubu seeking a second term and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate, emerging as one of his principal challengers.
The ADC has in recent months positioned itself as the platform for a broader opposition coalition seeking to unseat the APC in 2027. The party’s presidential ticket comprises Atiku as candidate and former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, as running mate.
ADC defends Atiku’s subsidy proposal
Mr Abdullahi also used the statement to defend Atiku’s proposal to restore a form of petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that Atiku recently said in an interview that he would restore the subsidy and ensure that individuals who diverted public funds meant for the scheme returned the money.
The proposal triggered a strong response from the presidency and the APC.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described Atiku’s position as a “volte-face” and accused him of being desperate for power.
Mr Onanuga argued that the subsidy regime had become financially burdensome and noted that the Petroleum Industry Act had provided for the end of the subsidy regime by the end of June 2023, with the Tinubu administration bringing the implementation forward.
The APC also criticised the proposal, accusing Atiku of abandoning his previous position in support of subsidy removal. The party described his new position as evidence that he was “clueless and out of touch with Nigeria’s economic realities.”
Mr Abdullahi, however, said the criticism from the government and the APC had failed to address what he described as the hardship faced by Nigerians.
He said the ADC was proposing not a return to the former subsidy system, but a “targeted, capped, budgeted and independently audited subsidy intervention” aimed at reducing the cost of fuel production and, ultimately, the price paid by consumers.
“We reinstate our commitment to subsidise production of fuel as a way of bringing down the pump price of fuel and the general cost of living in the country,” he said.
The ADC said the government’s argument that Nigeria could not afford such an intervention was difficult to reconcile with what it described as wasteful government spending.
“What we understand the APC government to be saying is that Nigeria cannot afford to protect struggling families,” Mr Abdullahi said.
“They are saying that a government that has continued to engage in monumental waste of resources cannot afford to help poor Nigerians who are merely struggling to survive.”
‘Every naira must be traceable’
The ADC said its proposed intervention would be different from the subsidy arrangement that existed before its removal in 2023.
Mr Abdullahi said the party would support mechanisms to ensure that public money allocated to the intervention could be tracked and independently audited.
“Our proposal is straightforward: every naira must be traceable and every barrel accounted for,” he said.
He also challenged Mr Tinubu to account for what he described as the cost of the administration’s economic policies, arguing that the government should not reject support for struggling Nigerians based on cost without accounting for public expenditure under its own policies.
“Before President Tinubu lectures Nigerians about the cost of helping them, he should account for the cost of his own government’s wrong-headed policy that has turned state governors into wastrels and federal agents into profligates,” the statement said.
