Atiku dares Tinubu to name ministers who paid billions for appointments

Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to identify the ministers who allegedly paid billions of naira to secure appointments into his administration and disclose the individuals who received the money.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demanded answers after Alwan Hassan, a spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, alleged that some ministers paid billions of naira to secure appointments and subsequently sought to recover their investments while in office.

Hassan made the allegation during an interview on Arise News on Thursday while defending Tinubu’s performance ahead of the 2027 general election.

“A lot of ministers pay billions to be appointed, and the first thing they think of is how to recoup that money after being appointed,” Hassan said.

He insisted that the alleged practice was not peculiar to the APC administration, arguing that it predated the party’s emergence into power. “It is the truth about our country and not just APC ministers; it started before the APC,” he added.

However, Hassan did not name any minister allegedly involved in the practice or identify those who purportedly received the payments.

“Bola @officialABAT, your campaign spokesman has admitted that ministers paid billions in bribes to secure their appointments. You appointed them, so who received the money? Nigerians deserve names, not silence,” Atiku wrote on his X handle on Friday.

The former vice president also accused the Tinubu administration of worsening the cost-of-living crisis through what he described as reckless policy decisions and questioned its handling of funds allocated to ministries.

“Your government’s reckless decisions have driven the cost-of-living crisis. And when you withhold funds from ministries because you distrust your own ministers, Nigerians are left paying for a government that has abandoned them,” he said.

The allegation has raised questions about the process of appointing public officials, the integrity of political appointments and the potential implications for accountability in government.