The APC National Stakeholders Media Support Group (APC-NSMSG) said President Bola Tinubu will defeat former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election arguing that the poll will favour the incumbent because of his performance.
The group reacted to a statement by Atiku the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress issued through his aide Phrank Shaibu titled ‘2027 Election Will Be Referendum on Your Record.’
In a statement from its Secretary/Convener Dr Oladimeji Adams at its Kaduna Flag-Off Media Centre the group welcomed Atiku’s call for an election based on records but challenged him to compare his record as vice president between 1999 and 2007 with Tinubu’s performance.
‘We thank Atiku for finally saying the truth. Yes 2027 will be a referendum on record. And we are ready’ the group said.
On petrol subsidy removal the APC-NSMSG said Atiku promised to remove the subsidy on his first day in office if elected president in 2023 arguing that Tinubu implemented the policy and channelled the resulting savings into federal allocations student loans and infrastructure.
It said Tinubu’s administration saved N7.1tn and accused Atiku of being linked to questionable privatisation deals involving the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited and Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria.
On foreign exchange the group argued that the previous administration’s exchange-rate policy pressured the Central Bank of Nigeria which it said spent $1.5bn monthly defending the naira.
It also said the administration had increased foreign reserves from $33bn to $42bn by ending round-tripping in the foreign exchange market.
Responding to Atiku’s reference to the World Bank’s estimate that 63 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty line the group said the figure predated Tinubu’s administration blaming previous governments for the country’s poverty levels.
It cited the administration’s reported N75000 cash transfers to 15 million families student loans to 478000 beneficiaries through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund compressed natural gas buses said to have reduced transport costs by 40 per cent and an increase in the national minimum wage from N30000 to N70000.
The group also said increased disbursements from the Federation Account Allocation Committee had strengthened state governments’ capacity to meet their obligations.
On extending the 2024 budget into 2025 the APC-NSMSG argued that the arrangement was constitutional under Section 59 of the Constitution noting that the President obtained National Assembly approval and published the decision in the official gazette.
Addressing Atiku’s concerns about N7.13tn in energy security spending and N11.2tn in Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited pipeline expenditure the group said these amounts included subsidy arrears inherited from the previous administration.
It said Tinubu was the first president to publish a breakdown of expenditure and order a forensic audit.
The group further said the PDP administration negotiated the $22.5m charges associated with an Abu Dhabi facility in 2022 and is renegotiating them while the CBN under its current governor Olayemi Cardoso flagged the $12.4bn gap in external accounts.
On insecurity the APC-NSMSG traced banditry in Zamfara State to 2004 and Boko Haram to 2002 when Atiku was vice president.
It said Tinubu’s administration had killed 8200 terrorists arrested 11000 bandits and rescued 4500 victims in two and a half years.
The group also cited the recruitment of 30000 forest guards and an increase in the defence budget from N1.2tn to N4.1tn as evidence of the administration’s efforts to tackle insecurity.
‘You live safe in Dubai. Tinubu is in Kaduna today flagging off security plan. Who is serious?’ the statement asked.
The APC-NSMSG also cited Saturday’s rally in Kaduna where it claimed 75000 supporters chanted ‘Sai Tinubu’ at the Ranchers Bees Stadium as evidence of public support for the President.
It said market women students and farmers attended the event adding that 20000 people could not enter the stadium because of limited capacity.
The group contrasted the turnout with 3000 attendees at Atiku’s 2023 rally in Kaduna.
To frame the 2027 election as a referendum on performance the APC-NSMSG posed seven questions concerning subsidy removal increased allocations to states the minimum wage student loans major road and rail projects foreign reserves forest guard recruitment and the candidates’ places of residence.
It listed the Kaduna-Kano rail project Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway among the infrastructure projects it said reflected the administration’s record.
‘Nigerians will answer in 2027: Tinubu again. Atiku you contested since 1993 – 33 years seven attempts seven failures. 2027 will be the eighth failure’ the group said.
It concluded that Tinubu had inherited a bleeding Nigeria and was working to restore it insisting that the Kaduna rally had already offered a glimpse of the President’s prospects in the 2027 election.