The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described President Bola Tinubu’s emerging 2027 campaign council as a “rehabilitation centre” for individuals facing unresolved corruption allegations.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, particularly questioned the inclusion of former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, and former Chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Ngozi Olejeme, in the campaign council.
Edu was suspended by President Tinubu following controversy over an attempted transfer of N585 million into a private account, while Olejeme has faced prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged financial malpractices.
The ADC challenged the Federal Government to disclose whether the cases involving the two former officials and others named in the council had been resolved.
“If they have been cleared, the government should show how and when and by whom they were cleared,” Abdullahi said.
The party alleged that under the Tinubu administration, investigations into financial crimes involving politically connected individuals had increasingly been allowed to fade away, only for the affected persons to resurface in other official or political roles.
According to the ADC, the 2027 general election will serve as a referendum on Tinubu’s performance during his first term, arguing that the President’s political allies would not be able to campaign away the economic hardship facing Nigerians.
“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 party said.
The ADC said Nigerians were grappling with high food prices, poverty and the rising cost of living, while those connected to government allegedly continued to enjoy what it described as “obscene opulence.”
The party also renewed its proposal for targeted fuel-production subsidies as a measure to reduce petrol prices and the wider cost of living.
It said its proposed subsidy model would be targeted, capped, budgeted and independently audited, with every naira traceable and every barrel of crude accounted for.
Responding to criticism of the proposal by the government, the ADC said the administration should first account for what it described as the cost of its “wrong-headed policies” before claiming that the country could not afford to support struggling Nigerians.
The party said its proposal was part of the “Atiku solution” to addressing the economic hardship confronting Nigerians.
(The Whistler)
