- The APC Presidential Campaign Council accused Atiku Abubakar of disrespecting the presidency by linking President Tinubu's name to Ebola in a public statement
- Spokesperson Dele Alake said the N10 billion approved in June for the Ebola emergency has not been spent, pushing back on Atiku's accountability questions
- The council urged the opposition to stop politicising the Ebola outbreak and instead support health authorities managing the crisis
The APC Presidential Campaign Council fired back at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday, October 22, 2026, accusing him of dragging the office of the President into disrepute through a series of political statements tied to Nigeria's ongoing Ebola response.
In a statement signed by council spokesperson Dele Alake, the APC body described a recent Atiku camp release on the Ebola situation as an exercise in "patent ignorance," noting that the statement had deliberately played on President Bola Tinubu's first name to draw a connection to the disease.
Source: Twitter
"Linking and rhyming President Bola Tinubu's name to Ebola only risks turning a serious health concern into a vehicle to ridicule the President of the Federal Republic," Alake wrote.
Atiku camp wrong on Ebola science, APC says
The council defended the government's handling of the index case, explaining that Ebola's incubation period runs from two to 21 days, with symptoms typically appearing eight to ten days after exposure. Because an infected person cannot transmit the virus before showing symptoms, the traveller from Uganda was not symptomatic on arrival at Abuja airport and could not have been flagged at that point.
Alake said the patient only later sought hospital care, at which point several tests confirmed the diagnosis. He added that a surveillance network involving the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and other agencies had already identified the index case and traced 44 contacts.
N10bn untouched, agencies used existing resources
On the question of how the government spent the N10 billion approved by President Tinubu in June for the Ebola emergency, Alake said the funds remain intact. He explained that the NCDC, FAAN, and other agencies managed the response using resources already at their disposal, and called on Nigerians to recognise their efforts.
The APC council also pushed back on Atiku's claim that a ministerial press briefing on the outbreak was designed to suppress attendance at campaign rallies or discourage voters, calling the allegation speculative and unsupported by any evidence.
"Vice President Atiku cannot make such a serious allegation without verifiable evidence, especially in the thick of electioneering," Alake said.
The statement closed with a call for the opposition to stop scoring political points off a public health crisis and instead encourage Nigerians to follow the protocols announced by the Presidential Task Force on Ebola.
See the full statement on X here:
Atiku criticises Tinubu's economic policy
Legit.ng earlier reported that Atiku Abubakar addressed Nigerians on Wednesday, October 14, citing hunger, insecurity, and rising costs as reasons to demand political change in 2027.
The NDC presidential candidate urged registered voters to collect their PVCs, describing the card as their peaceful power to demand change.
Atiku's message took direct aim at President Tinubu, promising to make life affordable and restore security if elected.
Source: Legit.ng