African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, have accused President Bola Tinubu of kick-starting his 2027 re-election bid amid his declaration of emergency in the country over insecurity.
The opposition party and Obi, in separate statements, called the action insensitive and that it makes nonsense of the recently declared state of emergency on insecurity.
A viral video emerged recently of branded fleets of Hilux trucks, Land Cruisers, and Hummer buses which are to be distributed to political agents across the country.
But the presidency dismissed Obi's claims, explaining that the initiative has no link to the 2027 campaign.
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Special adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a response to LEADERSHIP's inquiry on Thursday, faulted Obi's comments, stating that the former Anambra State governor was misinformed and unnecessarily commenting on issues without proper context.
"Must Peter Obi comment on everything?" Onanuga queried. "Who told him the vehicles are meant for campaign? The vehicles were given to the ambassadors of the Renewed Hope Agenda in all the zones.
"President Tinubu wants Nigerians to understand his reform agenda, and he has picked credible Nigerians, led by Governor Hope Uzodimma, to disseminate the message to all nooks and crannies of Nigeria."
Onanuga stressed that the vehicles were strictly for public enlightenment efforts, not partisan mobilisation.
"President Tinubu is committed to ensuring Nigerians properly understand the reforms being undertaken and how they will ultimately benefit the country," he said. "This is about information dissemination, not politics."
Obi had described the act as insensitive and immoral at a time Nigeria is struggling with security, hunger and unemployment.
In a post on X, the former presidential candidate said, "At a time when Nigerians are struggling with hunger, unemployment, and insecurity, the decision of any government to allocate limited public resources for distributing luxury vehicles like Hilux trucks and Hummer buses as part of the 2027 campaign mobilisation is not only insensitive but also represents a serious moral failure.
"While ordinary Nigerians are grappling with poverty and hopelessness, those in leadership positions continue to flaunt their wealth by driving brand-new Land Cruisers, Hiluxes, and Hummers, treating the suffering of the people as mere background for political theatrics. This tragic misplacement of priorities is unacceptable."
He said leadership, especially in these challenging times, should focus on providing food for the hungry, ensuring access to healthcare for the sick, restoring hope for millions of unemployed youth, and securing our communities.
"It is disheartening that, at a time when children are dropping out of school because their families cannot afford tuition fees, when mothers are dying during childbirth due to a lack of basic medical supplies, and when insecurity is tearing families apart, the response from those in power is to purchase and distribute luxury vehicles rather than urgently addressing the needs of the people.
"This is not governance. It reflects a profound insensitivity and an abuse of public trust disguised as a political strategy," the former presidential candidate said.
He said Nigeria cannot continue on a path of wastefulness, insensitivity, and misplaced priorities.
Similarly, the national publicity secretary of ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the act has effectively kick-started his 2027 re-election bid, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He faulted the distribution of branded vehicles to campaign agents across the country while kidnapped citizens languish in captivity and security forces struggle to contain escalating violence and banditry.
He said 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.
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 spokesman also accused the president of acting in violation of the Electoral Act and the INEC timetable.
Abdullahi further claimed the declaration of a security emergency was a mere gimmick to grab newspaper headlines, adding that the president's priority remains his re-election.
The ADC spokesman said while ordinary citizens are being kidnapped, displaced, and killed, the President is handing out branded vehicles and building a partisan mobilisation structure.
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"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."
He said a nation under emergency rule is expected to adopt extraordinary conduct and behaviours that reflect the desperate nature of its condition.
Abdullahi said while Tinubu is the first elected Nigerian President to declare a nationwide emergency on security, it's now on record that he is the first president to launch his re-election campaign while the country is under emergency rule.
"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," he said.
The party spokesman noted that leadership in times of crisis demands focus, sacrifice, and moral clarity, adding that lavish convoys and early campaigns are not the answers to national trauma.
