Atiku, Aregbesola Criticised by APC Over Alleged Unpaid Worker Salaries

ABUJA, NIGERIA — The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has called on Nigerians to reject the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the upcoming general elections over allegations of unpaid party worker salaries.

The ruling party claimed that the ADC National Working Committee—led by Chairman Senator David Mark and Secretary Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola—has failed to pay its staff for more than 12 months.

Campaign spokesperson Dele Alake, in a statement, described the non-payment of salaries as “unconscionable”, “wicked”, and “reprehensible”, arguing that it exposes the “emptiness and insincerity” of the opposition party’s campaign promises.

“A party that cannot pay its cleaners and workforce cannot be entrusted with our country’s affairs,” Alake alleged. According to the APC statement, the political aspirations of the ADC leadership and Abubakar are driven by personal aggrandisement and ill will against President Bola Tinubu rather than national interest.

The statement further attacked the personal track records of both Abubakar and Aregbesola regarding worker welfare, alleging that the presidential candidate has a history of owing employees, claiming that workers at his media firm, Gotel Communication, and other businesses have previously staged protests over months of unpaid salaries while he travelled abroad.

On Rauf Aregbesola, the APC campaign council criticized his eight-year tenure as Governor of Osun State, calling his record on salaries and pensions “abysmal.” 

The APC claimed his administration mismanaged state finances, introduced fractional salary payments, and abandoned pensioners for over four years.

Labeling the ADC leadership as “birds of a feather,” the APC urged the Nigerian electorate and the working class to completely reject all ADC candidates at the polls. Alake concluded that a political structure unable to manage its internal welfare cannot be trusted with the governance of Nigeria.

At the time of reporting, the ADC national leadership and the Atiku Abubakar campaign organization had not issued an official response to these allegations.