By Usman Oladimeji
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected allegations by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, that funds under the 2026 budget’s Service-Wide Vote (SWV) were earmarked to finance President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the ruling party described the allegation as “highly mischievous” and accused Atiku of demonstrating a poor understanding of public finance.
The APC said Atiku failed to provide any evidence to support his claim, describing the allegation as mere conjecture aimed at misleading Nigerians and diverting attention from what it called the achievements of the Tinubu administration.
Morka explained that the Service-Wide Vote is a standard budgetary provision used to cater for government-wide obligations and unforeseen expenditures after the annual budget has been passed.
According to him, the mechanism is widely used in many democracies and should not be mistaken for a secret or illegal fund.
The ruling party further accused Atiku of attempting to discredit the administration, alleging that his record in public office was tainted by corruption and financial mismanagement.
It also claimed the former vice president had failed to present a clear development agenda for Nigeria and had instead relied on what it described as misinformation and negative narratives.
The APC cited several programmes it said reflected the Tinubu administration’s fiscal priorities, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), implementation of the new national minimum wage, the Consumer Credit Scheme, the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, social intervention programmes, infrastructure development, investments in healthcare and agriculture, industrial expansion and ongoing tax reforms.
The party maintained that it remains committed to implementing the Renewed Hope Agenda, rebuilding the economy and improving the welfare of Nigerians.
Atiku had earlier alleged that the Service-Wide Vote in the proposed 2026 budget was intended to fund President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign, but has yet to provide further evidence to support the claim. The budget is currently before the National Assembly.
