Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday took a further dig at the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu when he described the massive flight of foreign portfolio investment from Nigeria as yet another damning vote of no confidence in the economic management of the current administration.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the latest Nigerian Exchange data should trouble every Nigerian. “Capital votes with its feet. Between January and July 2026 alone, foreign investors brought N513.36 billion into the Nigerian equities market but pulled out N779.43 billion, leaving a staggering net outflow of N266.07 billion.

“Foreign outflows exceeded inflows in every single month during the period. The net outflow is about 11.7 times the N22.68 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2023. This is not merely an investment statistic. It is a confidence verdict on the Tinubu economy.

“Imagine a market where the shop owners are broke, customers have no money, the landlord keeps borrowing from everybody, and the few outsiders who brought capital are quietly carrying their money away. Only a foolish landlord would stand at the gate and call that prosperity. That is Tinubu’s economy.

“Only yesterday, Nigerians learnt that the Federal Government had increased its domestic borrowing by 90.5 per cent to N24.7 trillion in just eight months, while credit to government grew more than four times faster than credit to the private sector. So, the picture is now painfully clear: Tinubu’s government is crowding Nigerian businesses out of the domestic credit market while foreign investors are taking their money and heading for the exit.”

Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 elections, added that Nigerians were daily crushed under the weight of the current administration’s ‘disastrous’ policies.

“The Tinubu administration may continue to manufacture impressive speeches and celebrate headline numbers, but investors are looking at the fundamentals — policy consistency, inflation, purchasing power, predictable regulation and the ability to earn sustainable real returns.

“And their verdict is increasingly unmistakable: take the money and run. Nigeria requires an economic policy that restores confidence, lowers the cost of doing business, makes energy and transportation affordable, encourages production and allows the private sector — rather than government borrowing — to drive growth. That is the fundamental difference between Tinubu’s economics of government consumption and Atiku’s economics of private-sector production and household affordability.”

While Atiku continues his daily attacks on the policies of the incumbent, the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a reaction from its former National Vice Chairman (South-South), Ntufam Hilliard Eta, called on Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies to immediately investigate allegations of financial crime against the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku.

Speaking on Tuesday at Muhammadu Buhari House, the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, Eta urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and relevant authorities to examine petitions and historical records linked to Atiku, insisting that “no politician should be above the law.”

Eta, also the Chairman of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), said his call was rooted in equal justice rather than political persecution, noting that public office should never shield anyone from scrutiny.

Eta’s intervention comes as Atiku intensifies his campaign for the release of United States records relating to a decades-old investigation involving President Tinubu. But while Atiku’s camp is demanding answers from Tinubu over the U.S. records, Eta, who acted briefly as the APC National Chairman, is asking Nigerians and anti-corruption agencies to subject Atiku’s own record to the same scrutiny.

Eta, however, insists he is not asking for Atiku to be convicted in the media. “I am not asking anybody to convict Atiku Abubakar in the court of public opinion. I am asking that the evidence be subjected to the court of law,” he said.

At the heart of Eta’s presentation are allegations and financial transactions examined in a 2010 U.S. Senate report, including more than $40 million in transfers involving offshore entities and US accounts associated with Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s former wife. Contemporary reporting on the Senate investigation said about $25 million of the funds was transferred into accounts opened by Douglas.

Eta also pointed to the report’s examination of alleged payments connected to Siemens AG, in which Siemens itself had pleaded guilty in the United States to criminal charges and settled related civil allegations.

Another issue raised by the Cross River State-born politician concerns approximately $14 million in transfers to American University in connection with consulting arrangements relating to the establishment of the university in Nigeria.

Eta, who acknowledged that he is proudly a die-hard supporter of President Tinubu, asserted these matters, together with subsequent petitions and allegations raised in Nigeria, warranted examination by competent authorities. He also revived allegations concerning the alleged use of companies and accounts as Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) during Atiku’s tenure as vice-president between 1999 and 2007.

Asked about his political roles, he acknowledged his public responsibilities, including his position as chairman of the NYSC Board and his involvement in the presidential campaign council. But he said: “I speak as a citizen of Nigeria on the issue.”

His argument, he said, was about equal application of the law, noting that his demand is bigger than Atiku, Tinubu or the 2027 election. “No sacred cows. No political immunity. No selective justice. No trial by media, just evidence, due process and the law.”

In a related development, another presidential candidate, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, was yesterday called out as the Oyo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kayode Babayomi, asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate what he described as Governor Makinde’s alleged reckless spending of state funds on political activities.

Babayomi, in a statement on Tuesday, alleged that the governor had continued to divert state resources towards his political ambition as the state received increased allocations from the Federal Government. He cited the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention in Ibadan, the APM convention, Makinde’s presidential declaration activities and the establishment of a new campaign headquarters in Abuja as instances that, according to him, warranted scrutiny.

The APC chairman alleged that the governor had prioritised his political interests over the welfare of residents of the state. He said, “As states earn more billions of naira from the Federal Government coffers, governors like Makinde have chosen to increase their extravagant lifestyles and illegal diversion of government funds directly to their own political ambitions.”

This came as President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, on Tuesday, accused the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of engaging in content creation. Bwala faulted Obi’s presence at the launch of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde’s campaign office in Abuja on Monday.

During the event, Obi had called for unity among Nigerians, urging citizens to do away with politics of bitterness. However, Bwala wondered why Obi would attend another political party’s campaign office launch.

Posting on X, Bwala wrote: “He just loves content creation. As a presidential candidate of a party @saintdegenius, he attended a campaign flagging of another presidential candidate @seyimakinde.

“In that rally, he was shouting APM @AlliedPeoples (which is a political colloquialism meaning supremacy of the party mentioned), yet that contradiction did not make it to “stories trending on Arise News morning show. Why? Because it will portray @PeterObi as none other than a content creator candidate. Do you need a prophet to tell you?”

Meanwhile, the proposed composition of the presidential campaign council and organisation of the ADC after the Osun State governorship off-season election has encountered fresh hurdles over moves to accommodate the Saminu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), fears of the financial burden of early campaigns and other sundry matters. It was also learnt yesterday that another reason for the delay had to do with last weekend’s burial of the mother of the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi.

It was also learnt that the ADC is considering a deliberate delay because of the huge financial implications of putting together a presidential campaign council and organisation that will function for five months.

Reliable sources within the National Working Committee of the ADC told The Guardian on condition of anonymity that the suggestion to include the Saminu Turaki-led faction of the PDP in the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign council and organisation has affected the earlier arrangement, as the PDP faction is demanding the deputy Director General position and directorate positions already ceded to the loyalists of late President Muhammadu Buhari represented by former Attorney General of the Federation and ADC Governorship candidate of Kebbi State, Abubakar Malami.

The clamour became more intense after the coalition’s meeting in Abuja, where possible alliances to defeat incumbent President Tinubu in 2027 topped the agenda. It was reliably gathered that the national chairman of the ADC was briefed on the demands and has activated discussions with other stakeholders, including the candidate and his vice.

The Guardian learnt that some of the NWC members of the party opposed to the suggestion have argued that the Turaki faction was still in court and that including them to play very prominent roles in the campaign structures will trigger infighting.

Indeed, the Bauchi State chapter of the PDP, backed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, rejected any alliance or collaboration with political parties in the state. The party also dismissed the announcement by the Turaki-led faction of the PDP that it had collapsed its structures into the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), describing the development as “good riddance to bad rubbish.”

Speaking with journalists on Tuesday at the party’s state secretariat along Maiduguri Road, the PDP State Chairman, Ibrahim Kashim Toro, maintained that his faction remained the authentic PDP in Bauchi, citing various court judgments in support of the claim. Kashim said those who announced the merger with the APM were no longer legitimate members of the party, alleging that they had been expelled before their latest political move.

“As you can see, every member of the PDP is here; there is no other PDP anywhere in Bauchi State. Those who left are not legitimate members of the PDP because they had been expelled long before now,” he said. (The Guardian)