2027: Tinubu made life expensive; Atiku will make life affordable — ADC
By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Friday launched its 2027 presidential campaign with a pledge to reverse the economic hardship Nigerians face, declaring that President Bola Tinubu must be voted out and replaced with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The party, which unveiled its Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, said soaring living costs, insecurity, unemployment and rising public debt had deepened Nigerians’ hardship, insisting that its Atiku Abubakar–Rotimi Amaechi ticket offered a credible alternative.
National Chairman, Senator David Mark, Campaign Council Chairman, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, and Director-General, Senator Austin Akobundu, spoke at the inauguration, charging party members to mobilise nationwide around the promise of affordable living and better governance.
Akobundu said the campaign would focus on the daily struggles of families, workers, farmers and business owners, arguing that government policies had made basic necessities increasingly difficult to afford.
“Tinubu made life expensive. I will make life affordable again,” Akobundu quoted Atiku as saying.
He said Atiku would prioritise local refining through a targeted, budgeted production subsidy for fuel refined in Nigeria, alongside reforms in electricity, education, healthcare and agriculture. The proposed measures, he said, would ease production costs, improve access to essential services and create opportunities for young people and women.
Akobundu also pledged to review the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, pursue student debt forgiveness, improve security on farmlands and implement the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy.
On the political climate, he accused the administration of subjecting ADC members to intimidation and harassment through state agencies, vowing that the party would resist such actions while campaigning within the law.
“The ADC will resist every form of intimidation and harassment!” he declared.
He also condemned what he described as the continued incarceration of the council’s Deputy Chairman, former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, calling it an affront to the rule of law.
Ibrahim-Imam delivered the sharpest political attack, declaring that the campaign was a mission to rescue Nigerians from economic hardship and insecurity.
“The palace feasts while the people fast!” he said, accusing the Tinubu administration of excessive spending while millions of Nigerians struggled to meet basic needs.
Citing figures presented in his address, Ibrahim-Imam said Nigeria’s public debt had risen from N87.38 trillion when Tinubu assumed office to N166.79 trillion by June 30, 2026. He also cited reports on killings and mass abductions to argue that the government had failed to protect lives and property.
He called on Nigerians to reject Tinubu’s re-election bid, presenting the 2027 contest as a choice between continued hardship and a change of direction.
“Tinubu priced you out of your own country. Atiku will bring you back in,” Ibrahim-Imam said.
Mark, meanwhile, charged the campaign council to take its message to every state, local government, ward and community, warning members against taking voters for granted.
“Our task is therefore bigger than winning an election. Our task is to present Nigerians with a credible alternative and give them the reason to believe and trust that the essence of governance is to protect them and make their lives better,” he said.
He urged the party to run an issue-based campaign, engage Nigerians across ethnic and religious lines and avoid violence, while calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission and other electoral institutions to remain impartial and transparent.
With the campaign council now inaugurated, the ADC faces the task of converting public frustration over economic hardship and insecurity into votes for the Atiku–Amaechi ticket in 2027.
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