By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has reacted to reports alleging that governors elected on the platform of the APC diverted funds from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to finance President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign.
The party described the action as shameless, cruel, and criminal, especially as millions of Nigerians are sinking deeper into poverty, hunger, and hopelessness due to the bad policies of the ruling party.
The ADC said this in a statement on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi in Abuja.
The party said the report alleging that over N800 billion was raised through deductions from FAAC allocations for political purposes “confirms what Nigerians have long suspected: that while the administration continues to tell the people to endure the pains of its ill-fated economic reforms”, the APC has been converting public resources into a war chest for 2027 politics.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ADC said it is morally indefensible that state governments receiving record-breaking allocations are unable to improve the lives of the people, yet could divert money to fund the President’s re-election ambitions.
The statement reads, ‘Under this APC government, states are receiving more money than at any other period in Nigeria’s history, yet Nigerians are poorer, hungrier, and more desperate than ever before. “Roads are still collapsing. Hospitals are still empty. Schools are still underfunded. Workers are underpaid. Communities remain unsafe. The only thing growing is the political appetite of the ruling party.
“The ADC said that if the allegations published by THEWILL are true, then what has occurred is not just political corruption, but a direct theft of resources belonging to the Nigerian people.
“FAAC allocations are meant for development, salaries, healthcare, education, infrastructure, security, and the welfare of citizens, not for financing the re-election plans of one man. To divert public allocations into political accounts while citizens cannot afford food is wickedness on an industrial scale.
“These revelations explain why many APC governors appear more interested in political calculations than governance, despite unprecedented inflows into state coffers following subsidy removal and currency devaluation policies that have inflicted severe hardship on Nigerians.
“The same government that told Nigerians there is no money to reduce suffering somehow found a way to allegedly mobilise over N800 billion for politics.
“The same government asking citizens to endure sacrifice is allegedly supervising one of the largest political funding operations in Nigeria’s democratic history. This is not leadership.
“This is exploitation. The APC government has effectively turned governance into a fundraising machine for 2027 while Nigerians battle inflation, unemployment, insecurity, collapsing purchasing power, and rising poverty.
“We call for an immediate independent investigation into the allegations, including the reported use of FAAC deductions and any related accounts or structures allegedly linked to the operation.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether money belonging to states and local governments was diverted for partisan political purposes. If these allegations are true, then this represents a dangerous abuse of public trust and a scandal of enormous national consequence.
“No amount of political spending can save a government that has lost the confidence of the people.
“You cannot impoverish the people to fund your own re-election. Nigerians are not blind. Nigerians are not fools. And Nigerians will remember”, the party said.
