The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Nigerians to reject the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 general elections, warning that allowing him back into power would endanger the country’s national treasury and economic progress.

The call was contained In a statement issued on Thursday, in Abuja by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka.

Morka stated that the upcoming 2027 presidential election provides the Nigerian electorate a pivotal opportunity to permanently halt Atiku’s political ambitions in order to safeguard the nation’s resources from corruption and cronyism.

“Ghosts of his sordid past continue, restlessly, to haunt and warn that Atiku must never again be allowed anywhere close to such a commanding position of trust and responsibility as the presidency,” the statement read.

Morka further said, “As a former public official, Atiku’s record is an executive summary of some of Nigeria’s vilest episodes of corruption and cronyism that pulverized our economy and decimated public trust.”

Highlighting a series of historical corruption controversies linked to the former Vice President, the ruling party noted that Atiku’s involvement in onshore and offshore financial scandals remains documented in official records, international inquiries, and legislative reports.

Detailing specific instances, the APC spokesman cited the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, the Siemens bribery scandal, the William Jefferson bribery case, and the 2010 report of the United States Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations.

“From the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project and the Siemens bribery scandal to the William Jefferson case, the PTDF funds controversy, and the US Senate investigation into suspicious financial transactions, Atiku’s name is engraved ingloriously on files and dossiers of onshore and offshore financial scandals and atrocities,” Morka stated.

The party pointed out recent findings by an International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Tribunal in Paris regarding a $500,000 payment made in January 2003 by Sunrise Power promoter, Leno Adesanya, to Atiku’s ex-wife, Jennifer Douglas, during the period the Mambilla contract was awarded.

“Atiku declined an opportunity to explain and justify what clearly was an illegal bribe payment to his wife,” the APC asserted, while also linking his former household to $2.8 million in bribes connected to the Siemens telecommunications scandal and $40 million in suspicious transfers scrutinised by US lawmakers.

The ruling party further warned Nigerians against Atiku’s recent policy pledge to restore fuel subsidies, characterising the policy reversal as a calculated move to access and deplete the nation’s growing financial reserves managed under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Atiku’s sudden u-turn from his 2023 policy position in favour of fuel subsidy removal to his new promise to restore the fuel subsidy regime, if elected, must be understood as his latest device to lay his hands on, and squander, the country’s 18-year foreign reserve high of over $54 billion built up from $3 billion by President Bola Tinubu in less than four years through bold and prudent economic reforms,” Morka added.

Reinforcing its stance on Atiku’s unsuitability for the nation’s top office, the APC referenced critical remarks by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his book My Watch, alongside Obasanjo’s recent public statements reiterating regret over his choice of running mate in 1999.

“In August 2026, Obasanjo described his decision to select Atiku as his running mate in 1999 as the biggest mistake of his presidency. He stated, ‘The man I picked as my running mate, my number two, if I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him.’ That is an open and shut reference by the former President, Atiku’s principal, to his unfitness for public office,” the party noted.

The governing party then declared Atiku an “accidental Vice President” who lacks the probity and character required to lead the country, reiterating its appeal to the Nigerian electorate to reject his candidacy at the 2027 polls. (The Nation)