The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has alerted security agencies to a suspicious payment made into one of his private bank accounts.
Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday, saying the money was transferred by an individual unknown to the former Vice President.
The transaction reportedly carried the narration, “Contribution Electioneering Campaign.”
According to Shaibu, neither Atiku nor his campaign organisation requested, approved or had prior knowledge of the payment or the person behind it.
“The circumstances surrounding the transfer are deeply troubling to His Excellency,” the statement said.
Shaibu explained that the affected account is a strictly private account, with its details not publicly available. He consequently questioned how an unknown person was able to obtain Atiku’s confidential banking information.
He warned that the incident raises broader concerns about the safety of Nigerians’ financial information, particularly if the private banking details of a former Vice President and presidential candidate could be obtained and used without his knowledge.
The aide also raised the possibility that the account information could have been accessed by someone with privileged access to confidential data.
If established, he described such access as “a grave abuse of power capable of exposing the account holder to kidnappers, terrorists, bandits, fraudsters and other criminal elements.”
The statement urged security agencies to take note of the incident and establish the source of the payment and how the account details were obtained.
Shaibu further linked the development to what he described as a series of suspicious activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He urged Nigerians to remain focused and not be distracted by what he described as “tired tactics that smack of character assassination.”
“Such desperate antics have failed before and will fail again,” the statement said.
According to Shaibu, Atiku remains focused on his political campaign and his stated objective of providing Nigerians with credible leadership and practical solutions to the country’s challenges.