The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu of reducing Nigeria’s declared national security emergency to “mere political theatre” by allegedly distributing fleets of branded Hilux trucks, Land Cruisers and Hummer buses to political agents ahead of the 2027 elections.
In a blistering statement issued on Thursday, the opposition party described the move as “obscene and morally bankrupt” at a time when kidnappings, banditry and insurgency continue unabated and hundreds of abducted schoolchildren remain in captivity.
“While communities live under siege and the armed forces are dangerously overstretched, the President is busy building a partisan mobilisation machine under the guise of ‘Renewed Hope Ambassadors’,” the ADC said.
“This confirms that the widely publicised emergency declaration was nothing more than a headline-grabbing gimmick.”
The party argued that a genuine state of emergency demands extraordinary focus and sacrifice from leadership, not the early launch of a re-election campaign.
“President Tinubu has become the first elected Nigerian leader to proclaim a nationwide security emergency and the first to commence active campaigning while that emergency supposedly remains in force,” the statement continued.
The ADC pointed out that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) timetable for the 2027 elections has not yet opened the window for formal campaigns, rendering the distribution of branded campaign vehicles a clear violation of electoral laws.
It called on INEC to “act decisively and without fear or favour” to sanction the ruling party and protect the integrity of the democratic process.
“Leadership during national trauma requires moral clarity, not lavish convoys and premature politicking,” the party stressed.
“President Tinubu must now choose: either he governs with the seriousness that a true emergency demands, or he admits that personal political ambition has overtaken the urgent national duty.”
The opposition party warned that Nigerians would no longer tolerate a government that treats life-and-death security crises as background noise to its quest for perpetual power.
“Lavish campaign vehicles are not the answer to national trauma. The President must return to the business of governance or step aside,” the ADC concluded.
