The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has reacted to the dissolution of the spokespersons of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election campaign, describing it as an act of desperation.

In a statement signed on Wednesday by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the Council said the decision should have gone further by advising President Tinubu to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race.

The Council said the dissolution followed the disclosure by Hassan Alwan, one of the APC Presidential Campaign Council’s spokespersons, that ministers under President Tinubu allegedly paid to secure their appointments and were expected to recoup their investments while in office.

According to the ADC-PCC, rather than address the allegations of monetised political appointments, the APC has chosen to blame the messengers.

“You cannot sack spokespersons for telling Nigerians the truth about a government that has failed on virtually every front. Hassan Alwan did not invent the rot; he merely brought to public attention what Nigerians have long suspected: that under President Tinubu, public office has become a marketplace and governance a business venture for recovering political investments,” it said.

The ADC-PCC said the APC’s response amounts to an attempt to suppress a revelation instead of addressing the fundamental issues raised by it.

“Instead of providing convincing answers to the grave allegations of appointment racketeering, the APC has chosen to shoot the messenger, dissolve its mouthpieces and hope that silence will make the scandal disappear. It will not,” it added.

The Council said the development reflects the failures of the Tinubu administration, which in the last three and a half years has presided over economic hardship, hunger, insecurity, unemployment and a crisis of public confidence.

It accused the administration of failing to demonstrate competence, transparency, accountability and policy direction required to address Nigeria’s challenges, while its fiscal policies and budget implementation record have continued to raise concerns.

The ADC-PCC also said Tinubu’s re-election campaign has offered Nigerians little beyond recycled promises and a rebranded version of the 2023 manifesto, repackaged as a new vision for 2027.

The Council maintained that Nigerians have seen through the administration and cannot be deceived by cosmetic changes.

“No new spokesperson, no fresh propaganda strategy and no campaign jamboree can whitewash the failures of this administration. Nigerians are confronted daily with hunger, insecurity, corruption, unemployment and a collapsing confidence in government. Changing the people who communicate these failures does not change the reality confronting the country,” it said.

The ADC therefore called on President Tinubu to listen to the voice of reason and concerns of Nigerians by withdrawing from the 2027 presidential contest.

“Nigeria cannot afford another term of monetised appointments, failed reforms, economic hardship and deceitful propaganda,” it said.

The ADC-PCC expressed confidence that Nigerians will seize the opportunity of the 2027 general election to vote for competence, integrity and purposeful leadership under the African Democratic Congress. (Nigerian Tribune)