The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed allegations by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that the 2026 Service-Wide Vote (SWV) was designed to secretly fund President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign, describing the claim as false, baseless and a sign of what it called Atiku’s ignorance of public finance.
The ruling party also accused the former vice president of trying to mislead Nigerians with allegations unsupported by evidence.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the APC said Atiku’s allegation was “highly mischievous” and based on speculation rather than facts.
The party insisted that the Service-Wide Vote is a long-established budgetary provision used to meet government-wide obligations and unforeseen expenditures after the annual budget has been passed, stressing that it is neither a secret fund nor an illegal account.
The APC said Atiku failed to provide any evidence to support his allegation that the Tinubu administration planned to use the budgetary provision for political purposes ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Beyond the headline allegation, @atiku did not advance any facts to verify his sensational claim, which is based purely on conjecture and calculated to inflame, mislead, and distract Nigerians from the visible and steady progress recorded under President Tinubu’s administration,” the statement read.
The party argued that a former vice president should understand how the Service-Wide Vote operates within government budgeting.
“You would think that a former Vice President, a man with the longest-standing ambition to be president of Nigeria, would understand the concept and instrument of a ‘Service-Wide Vote’, an elementary principle of public finance.
“A Service-Wide Vote is a long-established and widely used budgetary mechanism designed to cater for government-wide obligations and unforeseen expenditures that arise after the annual budget has been passed. Similar contingency arrangements exist in virtually all major economies and democracies of the world. A Service-Wide Vote is not a secret fund or an illegal slush account, as Atiku has baselessly and recklessly alleged,” Morka said.
The APC further the former vice president, accusing him of attempting to project his past onto the current administration.
“The ghost of his sordid past haunts Atiku. Ironically, a man whose reputation as a public servant is mired in some of Nigeria’s darkest episodes of mindless corruption and profligacy attempts to smear a high-achieving administration and lecture Nigerians on matters of fiscal responsibility and budgetary transparency. Atiku is only seeking to ascribe to others out of the overflowing store of misdeeds in his long and wasteful years in government,” the party stated.
It also accused Atiku of repeatedly contesting for the presidency without presenting practical solutions for Nigeria’s development.
“As a serial presidential contestant, Atiku has never once articulated a clear vision or coherent plan for Nigeria’s development but has remained a petty peddler of fake news and doomsday narratives. Spewing baseless and inflammatory allegations without justification is utterly irresponsible and unbecoming of a former Vice President,” the APC added.
Defending the Tinubu administration, the ruling party pointed to several government programmes, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the implementation of the new national minimum wage, the Consumer Credit Scheme, the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, tax reforms, and increased investments in infrastructure, healthcare and agriculture. It maintained that the administration remained focused on implementing the Renewed Hope Agenda and improving the lives of Nigerians.
The APC’s response comes months after Atiku, in May, alleged that the Tinubu administration and APC governors were diverting public funds into dedicated accounts to finance the president’s 2027 re-election campaign. In a statement issued through his media aide, Paul Ibe, the former vice president claimed the alleged diversion of public resources was worsening economic hardship, insecurity and poverty.
Atiku alleged that funds meant for governance and public welfare were being channelled towards political activities and linked disagreements within the APC Governors’ Forum over Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds to the alleged campaign financing.
