The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for allegedly kick-starting his 2027 re-election bid while the country remains under a state of emergency.
In a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC called it a cynically insensitive action that makes nonsense of the emergency declaration itself.
The party criticised the President’s distribution of branded vehicles to campaign agents across the country even as kidnapped citizens languish in captivity and security forces struggle to contain escalating violence and banditry.
The ADC stated that by launching his re-election campaign under the guise of “Renewed Hope Ambassadors”, Tinubu is acting more like a presidential candidate focused on re-election than a President of a beleaguered nation under emergency rule, with worsening security crises engulfing the country.
The party also alleges that the President’s action is a patent violation of the Electoral Act and the INEC timetable.
The full statement reads: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is deeply appalled by reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has distributed fleets of Hilux trucks, Land Cruisers, and Hummer buses to political agents across the country, thereby effectively kick-starting his 2027 re-election bid.
“Coming at a time when Nigeria remains under a declared state of emergency due to the worsening crisis of insecurity, this action confirms that the President’s declaration of security emergency was a mere gimmick to grab newspaper headlines and means nothing to a President whose priority remains his re-election.
“While ordinary citizens are being kidnapped, displaced, and killed, the President is handing out branded vehicles and building a partisan mobilisation structure. Entire communities are living under siege, our armed forces are stretched thin, yet the ruling party is preparing for rallies. At a time when children are being kidnapped and countless communities are under attack, the President is focused on re-election, seeking to continue presiding over a nation that has become more diminished, more fractured, and more dangerous than he met it.
“A nation under emergency rule is expected to adopt extraordinary conduct and behaviours that reflect the desperate nature of its condition. More importantly, the leadership of that country must demonstrate that nothing else matters in a time of emergency than tackling the situation that necessitated it.
“What we have seen under President Tinubu is that, apart from the declaration itself and a few symbolic gestures, nothing of substance has changed; no new safety measures, no heightened security alertness or presence, nothing. Instead, it has been business as usual. But nothing confirms that the emergency declaration means nothing to the President more than this so-called “Renewed Hope Ambassadors” project and the obscene distribution of campaign vehicles at a time when an undermined number of children are still in captivity and the entire nation cowers in fear.
“President Tinubu is the first elected Nigerian President to declare a nationwide emergency on security. It should now be on record that he is the first President to launch his re-election campaign while the country is under emergency rule. This is not merely misplaced priority. It is an indication that the only thing that truly matters to this government and this President is politics.
“We must also remind the President that, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the window for campaign activities ahead of the 2027 elections has not yet opened. These actions are in clear violation of electoral regulations, and we expect INEC to act decisively to protect the integrity of the process.
“President Tinubu must make a choice. He cannot govern under emergency powers while operating as a candidate on the campaign trail. One path leads to public service, the other to political opportunism.
Leadership in times of crisis demands focus, sacrifice, and moral clarity. Lavish convoys and early campaigns are not the answers to national trauma. The President must return to the business of governance or step aside and admit that his political ambition now stands in the way of Nigeria’s recovery.”
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