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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed allegations by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar that the 2026 Service-Wide Vote (SWV) in the national budget was earmarked to finance President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 reelection campaign.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, in a statement issued on Wednesday, described the claim as “mischievous” and rooted in ignorance of public finance.
According to him, Atiku’s allegation was unsupported by evidence and intended to mislead Nigerians and distract attention from what it described as the Tinubu administration’s achievements.
The APC said the former vice president “did not advance any facts to verify his sensational claim,” arguing that the accusation was “based purely on conjecture and calculated to inflame, mislead, and distract Nigerians from the visible and steady progress recorded under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.”
The party also questioned Atiku’s understanding of public finance, saying a former vice president should be familiar with the purpose of the Service-Wide Vote.
“You would think that a former Vice President, a man with the longest-standing ambition to be president of Nigeria, would understand the concept and instrument of a ‘Service-Wide Vote’, an elementary principle of public finance,” the statement read.
Morka added that the Service-Wide Vote is a long-established and widely used budgetary mechanism designed to cater for government-wide obligations and unforeseen expenditures that arise after the annual budget has been passed.
“Similar contingency arrangements exist in virtually all major economies and democracies of the world. A Service-Wide Vote is not a secret fund or an illegal slush account, as Atiku has baselessly and recklessly alleged,” said Morka.
He further accused the former vice president of attempting to tarnish the Tinubu administration despite what it described as his own controversial public service record.
“The ghost of his sordid past haunts Atiku. Ironically, a man whose reputation as a public servant is mired in some of Nigeria’s darkest episodes of mindless corruption and profligacy attempts to smear a high-achieving administration and lecture Nigerians on matters of fiscal responsibility and budgetary transparency,” the APC said.
The party alleged that Atiku was “only seeking to ascribe to others out of the overflowing store of misdeeds in his long and wasteful years in government.”
The APC also criticised Atiku’s presidential ambitions, saying he had failed to present a convincing agenda for the country.
“As a serial presidential contestant, Atiku has never once articulated a clear vision or coherent plan for Nigeria’s development but has remained a petty peddler of fake news and doomsday narratives. Spewing baseless and inflammatory allegations without justification is utterly irresponsible and unbecoming of a former Vice President,” the statement said.
Defending the Tinubu administration’s record, the APC cited several government programmes, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the implementation of the new national minimum wage, the Consumer Credit Scheme, the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, investments in infrastructure, healthcare and agriculture, as well as ongoing tax reforms.
The party maintained that the administration remained focused on implementing its Renewed Hope Agenda rather than engaging in premature electioneering.
“The APC and its administration remain focused on realising the Renewed Hope Agenda, rebuilding the country’s economy, deepening institutional reforms, expanding public infrastructure, and improving living conditions for all Nigerians,” it said.
The APC’s statement follows an exchange of words between the opposition and the ruling party over the implementation of the 2026 national budget, after Atiku alleged that the Service-Wide Vote contained provisions intended to finance President Tinubu’s 2027 reelection bid, a claim the APC has firmly denied.
ABUJA, FCT
JULY 22, 2026
PRESS STATEMENT
SERVICE-WIDE VOTE: ATIKU HAUNTED BY THE GHOST OF HIS SORDID PAST
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has become more disoriented and misguided than ever… https://t.co/pzymA0ZqxI pic.twitter.com/W4LEMV7PkY
— APC Nigeria (@OfficialAPCNg) July 22, 2026
