The vice presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Rabi’u Kwankwaso on Sunday received defectors from the All Progressives Congress, APC, into the NDC and the Kwankwasiyya Movement

Kwankwaso received Danlami Zakari Unguwar Gertai (Garkuwan Gari) of Gari Local Government Area, Kano State, alongside his supporters.

The Kwankwasiyya Movement disclosed this in a post on social media on Sunday.

According to the movement, the delegation was received at Kwankwaso’s residence along Miller Road, Kano State.

It added that the defectors pledged their loyalty and unwavering commitment to the movement and its vision for a better Nigeria.

This came barely 24 hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, published credentials and personal details of Kwankwaso and the presidential candidate of the NDC, Peter Obi, in preparation for the 2027 general elections.

The duo are former presidential candidates in 2023 in their various political parties.

They defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, and then dumped the party for the NDC, citing internal divisions and court cases.

The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, has insisted that the scandal involving the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, led by its purported Director General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, has exposed President Bola Tinubu’s Presidency as a den of corruption.

Abdullahi said Nigerians should be embarrassed that the PFIPC scam has created a bad impression of the country before the international community.

In an interview with Symfoni TV, Abdullahi said Nigerians and the world now sees Tinubu’s Presidency as one involved in racketeering.

He said: “Not just Tinubu but all of us as Nigerians should feel collectively embarrassed because the impression that has been created before the world today is that the Nigerian presidency is a den of corruption, there has been whispers of people taking money to award contracts, taking money in the presidency to arrangement appointment with the president, people taking money to get appointments for people in agencies and parastatals, we never believed it because we said that it could never be that bad.

“I have been a minister and I compared my time and I said it’s not possible but with this Adeyemi’s allegation, people are thinking that this is just the one that is out, this thing has been going on for a long time and it’s just business as usual under Tinubu, this is just the one that got out.”

He charged Tinubu to ensure that the matter is properly investigated to clear his Presidency of being complicit in corruption.

“And that is why I said that Tinubu has a duty to himself to ensure that this matter is investigated and proven beyond all doubts that his presidency is not complicit in this level of corruption that has shaken the firmament of our nation.

“He started by exonerating his Chief of Staff that I have confidence in him but what people are hearing is I’m protecting my Chief of Staff, it’s not good for him,” he said.

Abdullahi charged Gbajabiamila to proceed on leave and allow for an independent investigation into the scam.

He added: “People believe that the Chief of Staff has colluded in corruption of this magnitude but he said no I have no hand in it, then why are you afraid of an independent panel to investigate? If I were Gbajabiamila, I would go to the president and say I offer to go on leave because it’s my name that is being dragged in the mud and no amount of money on earth is worth my name.

“I offer to proceed on leave so that this investigation can be carried out so that I can be exonerated beyond all doubts but you are sitting in the office while all this stench of corruption is spelling around you?”

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has rejected the defence of President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, describing it as a desperate attempt at revisionism.

In a statement on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the government’s claims on public debt, subsidy removal, debt servicing and workers’ welfare collapse under the weight of publicly available facts.

“Which salary increase is the government talking about? The Federal Government is yet to fully implement the new minimum wage. The 40 per cent peculiar allowance tied to the wage adjustment remains unpaid despite official directives that it should take effect from May 1, 2026,” he said, adding that “these are not opposition allegations; they are the grievances of organised labour.”

On the administration’s public debt profile, Atiku cited figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, noting that the Federal Government’s exposure to the apex bank stood at approximately ₦26.9 trillion when President Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, and has since risen to over ₦40.38 trillion.

He said CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso had disclosed that the bank’s credit to the Federal Government rose from ₦22.99 trillion in May 2025 to ₦40.38 trillion in May 2026, an increase of ₦17.39 trillion, or 77.6 per cent, within one year.

“This administration has not reduced its indebtedness to the CBN. It has merely changed the label on the debt by converting Ways and Means advances into Treasury Bills and bonds while simultaneously piling up fresh obligations. That is debt restructuring—not debt repayment,” he said.

Atiku also challenged the government’s claim that subsidy savings are financing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), citing an earlier disclosure by the fund’s Chief Executive Officer.

According to him, the Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND had publicly stated that the scheme received a ₦50 billion injection from recovered funds by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC.

“If that is the case, why is the government now presenting subsidy savings as the source?” he asked.

He further faulted attempts to blame rising debt servicing costs solely on high interest rates, pointing instead to government borrowing patterns under the current Monetary Policy Rate regime.

Atiku said government’s insatiable appetite for borrowing has crowded out productive businesses while pushing debt servicing to unsustainable levels, adding that to now blame interest rates is nothing short of an admission of policy failure.

The former Vice President listed food prices, inflation, business closures, unemployment, naira depreciation and deepening poverty as the realities confronting Nigerians, which he said no presentation could obscure.

He urged government officials to abandon media spin and confront the country’s economic realities with sincerity and accountability.