The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi have accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of engaging in early campaign by distributing vehicles to the state coordinators of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA) In Nigeria.
They accused Tinubu of abandoning governance at a time insecurity was on the rise and Nigerians were still facing hardship and were instead engaging in 2027 re-election campaign.
They accused the presidency of deceptive with the language used to describe the mandate of the RHA, ading that the project was actually an early campaign structure. The vehicles, they claimed, were essentially campaign assets being deployed at a time the Tinubu administration should be concentrating on governance.
According to the parties, the action of the president was a display of a lack of concern for citizens and amounted to “a flagrant disregard of the Electoral Act”, which forbids campaign activities ahead of the official timetable to be announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Tinubu on November 25, named Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State as Renewed Hope Ambassador and set him on “evangelising the Tinubu administration’s programmes.”
“In his role as ambassador, he will double as the Director-General for Party Outreach, Engagement and Mobilization,” said presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga.
Onanuga said the president also told Governor Uzodimma to ensure Nigerians are aware of, and understand, the administration’s achievements.
Uzodimma, who is the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, in turn named more who are former Delta State governor , Ifeanyi Okowa for South-South, , former Bauchi State governor, Isa Yuguda for the North-East, and former Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari for the North-West,.
The South-East has former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim as its coordinator, Oladipupo Oyinbande for South-West; while the North-Central got former Nasarawa State governor, Umar Tanko Al-Makura.
The coordinators were given brand-new Hummer Buses (Toyota Hiace) with branded colours and images of Tinubu.
Aside from the buses, Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs and Toyota Hilux vehicles were also said to have been shared.
In its reactions, the PDP spokesperson, Ini Ememobong, said the appointments and controversies surrounding the RHA reflected the priorities of the administration.
“This is another milestone in the politicisation of governance at the cost of existential challenges across the country. It is unfortunate and very painful, unmistakably showing where the priorities of the president and the presidency lie. Nigerians are watching,” he said.
Similarly the ADC accused the president of kick-starting his 2027 campaign despite the high level of insecurity Nigeria was grappling with at the moment.
The party said the appointment of RHA and distribution of vehicles was “a cynically insensitive action that makes nonsense of the emergency declaration itself.”
The ADC spokesperson, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, criticised the distribution of “vehicles to campaign agents across the country even as kidnapped citizens languish in captivity and security forces struggle to contain escalating violence and banditry.”
The ADC said by “launching his re-election campaign under the guise of Renewed Hope Ambassadors,” the president has turned himself into a candidate rather than the leader of a nation bugged down by insecurity, adding that the action contravened the Electoral Act and INEC’s timetable.
“Coming at a time when Nigeria remains under a declared state of emergency due to worsening insecurity, this action confirms that the president’s declaration of security emergency was a mere gimmick to grab headlines. It means nothing to a president whose priority remains his re-election.
“While ordinary citizens are being kidnapped, displaced and killed, the president is handing out branded vehicles and building a partisan mobilisation structure. Entire communities are under siege, our armed forces are stretched thin, yet the ruling party is preparing for rallies. At a time when children are being abducted and communities attacked, the president is focused on re-election, presiding over a nation more diminished, more fractured and more dangerous than he met it.”
In his own reaction, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi, faulted the government for purchasing and distributing luxury vehicles such as Hilux trucks and Hummer buses, for 2027 political mobilisation at a time when Nigerians are experiencing hunger, unemployment and insecurity.
The decision of any government to allocate scarce resources to, is not only insensitive but represents a serious moral failure, said Obi.
He said the action of the president was “a tragic misplacement of priorities that is completely unacceptable. This is not governance. It reflects a profound insensitivity and a clear abuse of public trust disguised as political strategy. It betrays the essence of public service, which should always be about serving the people rather than staging political publicity.”
Obi said Nigeria must stop wastefulness, insensitivity and misplaced priorities, adding that what citizens need at this time is leadership built on empathy, prudence and accountability.
