Tinubu govt planning to detain El-Rufai until after 2027 polls – ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has insisted that Nigerians deserve a government founded on service, accountability and a new approach to politics, accusing the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of prioritising the 2027 elections over governance.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the remarks on Wednesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

Abdullahi alleged that the Tinubu administration had abandoned governance while millions of Nigerians continue to battle hunger and insecurity.

> “The country is sinking under their watch. We’ve never seen this level. The last report that we saw says 17 million Nigerians are starving to death. I’ve not heard the President say one word.

> “Seventeen million people starving to death—that is not an opposition narrative. That’s an international organisation that monitors hunger across the world,” he said.

He further accused the government of placing politics above the welfare of citizens.

> “Not this insecurity, not the hunger, not the cost of living. The only problem they have, as far as they are concerned, is the 2027 election, as if they don’t have a duty to solve the problems that the country is confronted with.”

Responding to concerns about why Nigerians should trust ADC leaders who previously belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi said the coalition was formed because Nigeria needed a different style of politics.

> “We are different because we are building a new political party based on a different philosophy of governance.

> “A political party that recognises the fact that politics has not served the people of this country in the last 30 or 40 years, and we have to embrace a new way of thinking and a new way of politics,” he stated.

According to him, the ADC has adopted new ethical principles and a revised constitution that would guide party officials and ensure greater accountability.

He argued that Nigerians should not lose faith in politics simply because of past failures.

> “It is the same politicians in Nigeria that will run politics. Unless we agree that something good can come out of politics, we will continue to be cynical.”

Abdullahi also criticised the Federal Government over what he described as the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).

He further alleged that the Tinubu administration had no intention of releasing former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai before the 2027 general election because it believed the opposition would be strengthened by his freedom.

The former Minister of Youth Development and Sports also defended his record in government, insisting that the original “Change” agenda of the APC in 2015 was abandoned after the party assumed power.

“When we joined the message of ‘Change,’ we believed it. We worked round the clock to articulate what that change would represent in real terms—corruption, security and the economy.

“The moment the government came on board, the first thing to be disowned was the very programme that we designed.”

He also dismissed the current “Renewed Hope” agenda as lacking substance.

“Invite any member of this government that has been singing the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda and ask them: what does it really mean? What is the substance? What is the policy framework? It is just a slogan.”

Abdullahi maintained that the ADC’s mission is to restore democracy as a system that improves the lives of citizens rather than serving the interests of politicians.

“Democracy is anchored on the principle that you want to make life better for the people. That is one thing that this government is not doing, and that’s one thing they don’t care about.

“Every member of the ADC is convinced this is the only alternative left for Nigeria, and that is where we derive our confidence from,” he said.

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