*Atiku Abubakar.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has called on Nigerians to reject former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) at the next general elections, accusing the party of owing its staff salaries for more than 12 months.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the council said the National Working Committee of the ADC, led by Senator David Mark as Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as Secretary, has “refused and neglected to pay party staff for over a year.”
The APC described the situation as unconscionable, noting that a party making “grandiose promises” to Nigerians cannot pay workers who report for duty daily and depend on their salaries for basic sustenance. It called the non-payment “wicked and reprehensible” and evidence of the “emptiness and insincerity” of those presenting themselves as new political saviours.
The council linked the alleged default to Atiku Abubakar’s broader record, claiming the ADC presidential candidate has a history of owing employees. It cited periods when staff at his Gotel Communications and other businesses went months without pay and staged protests over unpaid salaries and benefits, even as Atiku travelled frequently to the UAE.
It also referenced Aregbesola’s tenure as governor of Osun State, stating that his administration struggled to pay workers and pensioners. The statement recalled the introduction of quarter-salary and half-salary payments and alleged that pensioners were abandoned for more than four years, with some dying because they could not afford basic needs.
“We are therefore not surprised that ADC, harbouring birds of the same feather, cannot pay its workers’ salaries,” the statement said. It warned that a party aspiring to govern Nigeria that cannot manage its own affairs or the welfare of its workforce should not be trusted with the country’s future.
The APC Presidential Campaign Council urged voters to reject the ADC, Atiku Abubakar, and all its candidates, insisting they are driven by personal ambition and hostility toward President Bola Tinubu rather than the interest of Nigerians.