ATIKU HAUNTED BY GHOST OF SORDID PAST – APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has become more disoriented and misguided than ever before in the history of his failed serial presidential bid.

That party stated on Wednesday that Atiku’s recent allegation that the 2026 budgetary Service-Wide Vote (SWV) was set aside to fund President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 reelection campaign is either highly mischievous or shows disturbing ignorance of basic principles of public finance.

The APC pointed out that Atiku did not advance any facts to verify his sensational claim, which is based purely on conjecture and calculated to inflame, mislead, and distract Nigerians from the visible and steady progress recorded under President Tinubu’s administration.

“You would think that a former Vice President, a man with the longest-standing ambition to be president of Nigeria, would understand the concept and instrument of a “Service-Wide Vote”, an elementary principle of public finance. A Service-Wide Vote is a long-established and widely used budgetary mechanism designed to cater for government-wide obligations and unforeseen expenditures that arise after the annual budget has been passed. Similar contingency arrangements exist in virtually all major economies and democracies of the world. A Service-Wide Vote is not a secret fund or an illegal slush account, as Atiku has baselessly and recklessly alleged,” the party said.

According to the APC, the ghost of Atiku’s sordid past haunts him, stressing that his reputation as a public servant is mired in some of Nigeria’s darkest episodes of mindless corruption and profligacy attempts to smear a high-achieving administration and lecture Nigerians on matters of fiscal responsibility and budgetary transparency. “Atiku is only seeking to ascribe to others out of the overflowing store of misdeeds in his long and wasteful years in government,” the party said.

The APC described Atiku as a serial presidential contestant who has never once articulated a clear vision or coherent plan for Nigeria’s development but has remained a petty peddler of fake news and doomsday narratives. “Spewing baseless and inflammatory allegations without justification is utterly irresponsible and unbecoming of a former Vice President,” the party said.

The APC expressed the belief that Nigerians are discerning enough to tell the difference between President Tinubu and the desperate, rudderless presidential candidates such as Atiku. It noted that President Tinubu is busy transforming national challenges to national opportunities, and making big and unprecedented wins for our country.

“President Tinubu’s administration has continued to demonstrate fiscal responsibility, and justify the use of public resources through landmark interventions, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which has enabled close to two million students to access higher education; the implementation of the new national minimum wage; the Consumer Credit Scheme which expands access to affordable financing; the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative to reduce transportation costs. Other presidential programmes include food and other palliatives for vulnerable households; increased investments in infrastructure, healthcare, and agriculture; expanding the country’s industrial complex to create high-paying jobs; and far-reaching tax reforms to simplify the tax system, stimulate economic growth, and ease the tax burden on low-income Nigerians.

“The APC and its administration remain focused on realising the Renewed Hope Agenda, rebuilding the country’s economy, deepening institutional reforms, expanding public infrastructure, and improving living conditions for all Nigerians,” the party said.