The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has declared that the outcome of the 2027 presidential election will be determined by Nigerians and not by the views of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of avoiding scrutiny over President Bola Tinubu’s performance in office.
In a statement issued on Monday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the APC had become fixated on attacking the ADC’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, instead of responding to concerns about the economy, insecurity and the rising cost of living.
The opposition party argued that millions of Nigerians are more concerned about the hardship they experience daily than political rivalries, insisting that the 2027 election will ultimately be a referendum on the Tinubu administration’s record.
“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has observed the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s increasingly desperate obsession with our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,” Abdullahi said.
According to the ADC, the APC intensified its attacks after Catholic bishops recently criticised the state of the nation during a meeting with President Tinubu. Rather than address the issues raised by the clerics, the party alleged that the ruling party shifted attention to comments made by former President Obasanjo about Atiku.
The ADC also accused the APC of routinely attacking critics instead of addressing growing concerns over inflation, insecurity, unemployment and declining living standards.
“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,” the statement said.
Responding to Obasanjo’s remarks, the opposition party maintained that while the former president was entitled to his personal opinion, his comments could not erase what it described as the economic achievements recorded during the administration in which Atiku served as Vice President and Chairman of the National Economic Council.
The ADC further challenged the Federal Government to explain why food prices continue to rise despite official claims of economic growth, why more Nigerians have fallen into poverty, why job creation remains weak, why government borrowing has increased and why insecurity continues to affect many communities across the country.
The party insisted that these issues—not political personalities or individual opinions—would shape voters’ decisions in 2027.
“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 statement added.
