Tinubu prioritises 2027 over governance, says ADC
ADC Accuses President Tinubu of Prioritizing 2027 Re-Election Over Governance
By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA — The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Thursday criticized President Bola Tinubu for focusing on his 2027 re-election campaign at the expense of effective governance. The party highlighted what it described as serious failures related to the national budget, policy inconsistencies, and escalating insecurity under his administration.
The ADC asserted that the federal government is managing three separate national budgets simultaneously, a situation it termed unprecedented and troubling. Key sectors, including power, communications, education, and health, have reportedly been underfunded, despite government claims of record revenue and increased foreign reserves.
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, released a statement in Abuja addressing these concerns. “The ADC has noted recent reports that signify utter confusion and a historic level of incompetence in the Tinubu administration’s implementation of national budgets since 2024,” he stated. Abdullahi pointed out that the current government is the first in Nigerian history to run three budgets concurrently without implementing any.
According to Abdullahi, although the 2024 budget has been extended into 2025, only 17.7 percent of its capital component had been disbursed by the third quarter of 2025. The overall budget implementation stood below 30 percent at that time, while internal disbursements continued to fall behind.
The government has described this unusual budgeting strategy as a “deliberate strategy” intended to facilitate the completion of multi-year capital projects. In response, the ADC labeled this claim a “blatant falsehood.”
The party further contended that 30 percent of the 2025 budget is slated to run from February 2026 to November 30, 2026, with the remaining 70 percent expected to carry over into the 2026 budget, which is still under debate in the National Assembly. It noted that President Tinubu previously promised to finalize all capital components of the 2024 and 2025 budgets by March 31, 2026.
In its analysis of specific sectors, the ADC reported capital budget implementation rates of just 3.6 percent for the Ministry of Power, 8.9 percent for Communications Technology, 23.5 percent for Education, and 32.5 percent for Health.
The party emphasized the significance of adequately funding these sectors for national human capital development, stating, “Certainly, no serious government would leave these sectors largely unfunded while select government officials continue to live in obscene opulence amid unprecedented poverty and human misery.”
The ADC also noted that the only ministry reporting budget performance exceeding 100 percent was the Ministry of Defence, largely due to emergency funding. However, the party argued that insecurity persists, pointing to reports indicating that up to 500 Nigerians may have lost their lives to terrorist attacks in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Kebbi during the month of Ramadan alone.
The party questioned the administration’s assertions of improved revenue collection and foreign reserve balances, claiming it has engaged in more aggressive borrowing than any previous administration, with contractors remaining unpaid and projects stalled.
“This is the reason Nigerians are suffering like never before,” the ADC stated, emphasizing the pressing questions about government accountability regarding the management of loans, revenue, and tax increases. “Why are we worse off today than we were three years ago?” the party asked.
In conclusion, the ADC accused the Tinubu administration of prioritizing politics over effective governance, arguing that Nigeria continues to face deepening poverty and insecurity.
