The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has launched a fiery counter-attack against former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, dismissing his claims that the 2026 Service-Wide Vote (SWV) was earmarked to fund President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, the governing party described Atiku’s allegations as a mix of “disturbing ignorance of basic public finance principles” and “calculated mischief.”

The response follows Atiku’s recent public criticism, in which he accused the Tinubu administration of setting aside funds under the SWV umbrella as an illegal slush fund to boost the ruling party’s prospects in the upcoming general election.

Reacting directly to the claims, APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka said Atiku failed to present concrete evidence to substantiate what he termed a sensational narrative.

“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,” Morka said. “It is not a secret fund or an illegal slush account, as Atiku has baselessly and recklessly alleged.”

Morka argued that contingency arrangements like the SWV are standard practice across major global economies, adding that a veteran politician of Atiku’s stature should understand elementary public finance.

Taking a direct swipe at the former Vice President’s long political track record, the ruling party claimed Atiku was merely attempting to project his own past onto the current administration.

“The ghost of his sordid past haunts Atiku,” the statement read. “A man whose reputation as a public servant is mired in some of Nigeria’s darkest episodes of corruption and profligacy attempts to smear a high-achieving administration and lecture Nigerians on fiscal responsibility.”

Defending the administration’s fiscal record, the APC highlighted several social and infrastructural programmes funded under the Renewed Hope Agenda. Among those listed were the expansion of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND)—which the party claims currently benefits nearly two million students—the implementation of the new national minimum wage, the Consumer Credit Scheme, and the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative aimed at softening transit costs.

The ruling party insisted that Nigerians remain capable of distinguishing between “desperate narratives” and actual governance milestones, reiterating that President Tinubu remains focused on deep institutional reforms, tax relief for low-income earners, and economic stabilisation ahead of 2027. (The Nation)

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