The All Progressives Congress has advised Nigerians not to vote for Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate in the 2027 election.

APC, in a statement issued by its spokesman Felix Morka on Thursday, said Mr Abubakar’s “record is an executive summary of some of Nigeria’s vilest episodes of corruption and cronyism that pulverised our economy and decimated public trust.”

“Nigeria’s upcoming presidential election presents the electorate the opportunity to deal a final blow to Atiku’s desperate quest for presidential power and save the country from his ravenous plunder,” the ruling party stated.

Citing Mr Abubakar’s alleged role in the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, Siemens bribery scandal and the William Jefferson case, the APC noted that the ex-vice president’s name “is engraved ingloriously on files and dossiers of onshore and offshore financial scandals and atrocities”.

It added, “These are not mere allegations. They are matters that are well documented in official records, tribunal proceedings, government investigations, national and foreign legislative reports, and international financial inquiries. Together, they raise legitimate questions about the fitness for probity and accountability of this serial presidential contender.”

According to the APC, Mr Abubakar’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. 

It further referenced former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s characterisation of Mr Abubakar as possessing a propensity for corruption, a tendency toward disloyalty, poor judgment, and a readiness to sacrifice the national interest for selfish gains.

The APC described the ADC presidential candidate as an accidental former vice president, accusing him of being interested in scattering and plundering the national treasury built by Mr Tinubu under the cover of his fake and unrealistic promise to restore the ruinous fuel subsidy regime.

“Atiku was an accidental vice president and categorically unfit for the office of president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the APC added.

Mr Abubakar has been critical of Mr Tinubu’s economic policies, particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy, vowing to restore it if elected president in 2027.