Tinubu’s Camp Accuses ADC, Atiku Of Owing Workers’ Salaries

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has accused the African Democratic Congress (ADC) of failing to pay its staff for more than a year.

It subsequently questioned the party’s ability to manage Nigeria’s affairs if elected into power in 2027.

The council also attacked former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections, over alleged unpaid salaries at his businesses and criticised the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, over his record as governor of Osun State.

Politics Nigeria reports that this was contained in a statement issued on Monday by Dele Alake, spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council.

Alake accused the ADC National Working Committee, led by Senator David Mark as national chairman and Aregbesola as national secretary, of neglecting the welfare of party workers despite their continued service.

He described the alleged failure to pay salaries for over 12 months as unacceptable, arguing that the party’s treatment of its employees contradicted its promises to Nigerians.

The APC campaign spokesperson said the development exposed what he described as the insincerity of ADC leaders and their claims to offer Nigerians a better alternative.

He further accused Atiku of having a history of unpaid staff salaries, alleging that employees of Gotel Communication and other businesses associated with the former vice-president had gone months without pay and staged protests over outstanding salaries and benefits.

Alake also criticised Aregbesola’s eight-year tenure as governor of Osun State, accusing his administration of mismanaging the state’s finances and failing to meet its obligations to workers and pensioners.

He alleged that the administration introduced quarter-salary and half-salary payments for workers and left pensioners without their entitlements for more than four years.

According to Alake, the alleged failure of ADC leaders to meet their financial obligations to workers raises questions about their capacity to govern the country.

He urged Nigerians to reject the ADC, Atiku and the party’s candidates in the next general elections, arguing that a party unable to manage its internal affairs and staff welfare should not be entrusted with national leadership.

The statement partly reads, “The record of the ADC General Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, on paying workers’ salaries and pensioners in Osun State, where he was a governor for 8 years, was abysmal. As governor, he mismanaged the state’s finances to the point that he could not pay workers. His government thus introduced quarter-salary and, at times, half-salary payments. As for pensioners, he abandoned them for more than four years. Many died because they could not afford the basics of life.

“We are therefore not surprised that ADC, harbouring birds of the same feather, cannot pay its workers’ salaries.

“We are sounding a warning to Nigerians and working people now: reject ADC. Reject Atiku Abubakar and reject all ADC candidates in the next general elections. They do not have the interest of our country and our people at heart. A party that aspires to govern Nigeria and which cannot be trusted with something as basic as the management of its own affairs and the welfare of its workforce should be rejected by Nigerians.”

The ADC camp and Atiku have not responded to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.