The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Monday declared that Nigerians, not former President Olusegun Obasanjo, would determine the outcome of the 2027 presidential election, accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of hiding behind attacks on its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to avoid accounting for President Bola Tinubu’s record on the economy, insecurity and the rising cost of living.
According to the opposition party, millions of Nigerians are more concerned about the hardship they face daily than political personalities, insisting that the real contest in 2027 will be over the Tinubu administration’s performance rather than anyone’s opinion of Atiku.
The position was contained in a statement by the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, who accused the APC of becoming increasingly desperate after Catholic Bishops criticised the state of the nation during their recent meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Rather than respond to the issues raised, he said, the ruling party had chosen to amplify Obasanjo’s remarks about Atiku while attacking those questioning its performance.
“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has observed the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s increasingly desperate obsession with our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“Unable to defend its catastrophic record after the Catholic Bishops laid bare the true state of the nation during their recent meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the APC has shamelessly seized on comments by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a desperate attempt to shift the national conversation and shift attention from their terrible performance in the last three years,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC also faulted the APC’s response to concerns over worsening poverty, insecurity and the soaring cost of living, accusing the party of attacking critics instead of addressing the issues they raised.
“We note how, rather than answer the Bishops’ concerns about worsening poverty, insecurity and the cost of living, the ruling party has chosen instead to attack the messengers, whose only offence is that they spoke truthfully and bursted their bubble of propaganda and self-deception,” the statement added.
The opposition party said the pattern had become the APC’s default response whenever respected Nigerians criticised the administration.
“This has become a familiar pattern. Whenever respected Nigerians point to the deepening poverty, worsening insecurity, rising cost of living, or the collapse of public confidence under this administration, the APC never answers for its record. Instead, it looks for someone to attack.
“Yesterday, it was the Catholic Bishops. Today, it is Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Tomorrow, it will be someone else,” the ADC said.
Turning to Obasanjo’s comments, the party maintained that while the former president was entitled to his personal opinion, such views could not erase what it described as the economic record of the administration in which Atiku served as vice president and Chairman of the National Economic Council.
“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is entitled to his personal opinion of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Every Nigerian, including former presidents, enjoys that democratic right. But opinions do not erase records,” it argued.
The statement said Nigeria experienced stronger economic growth, greater macroeconomic stability, stronger investor confidence and a more affordable cost of living during that period than under the current administration, adding that whatever political differences now existed between Obasanjo and Atiku, those achievements remained part of the country’s history.
The ADC further challenged the Federal Government to explain why food prices and the cost of basic necessities had continued to rise despite official claims of economic growth, why more Nigerians had fallen into poverty, why economic growth had failed to create jobs, why borrowing had continued to increase, why debt servicing now consumed a significant share of government revenue, and why many communities remained under constant threat from bandits, terrorists and kidnappers.
“It is time that the APC and their government took a break from attacking Atiku and the Bishops to answer a few important questions,” the statement said.
“Why has the prices of food and basic necessities continue to soar despite proclaimed economic growth? Why have more Nigerians fallen into poverty under your watch than at any other period in Nigeria’s history? Why have you failed to translate your so-called economic growth into jobs? Why have you borrowed more money than any other government in the nation’s history with nothing to show for it? Why is your government spending 69% of its revenue just to service debts… Can the APC explain why communities across the country continue to live under the constant threat of bandits, terrorists and kidnappers while hundreds are still held in kidnappers’ den?”
The ADC maintained that those, rather than political personalities or individual opinions, were the issues that would shape the 2027 presidential election.
“Ultimately, the election will not be decided by the opinion of any one individual. It will be decided by the lived experience of more than 200 million Nigerians who are poorer, more insecure, and more uncertain about their future than they were before the Tinubu administration took office,” the party said.
