President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has come under fire from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the coalition-led African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, for participating in an early campaign by giving cars to the state coordinators of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA) throughout the nation.
They contended that the move showed the president was more concerned with winning reelection in 2027 than with governing.
They further argued that the initiative was really a pretext for an early campaign structure, notwithstanding the presidency’s cautious wording regarding the RHA’s mandate. They asserted that the vehicles were effectively campaign assets being used when the Tinubu administration ought to be focusing on governance.
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They said the move showed 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).
The president and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have already been accused of participating in early campaigning. Development analysts called the party’s earlier endorsement of President Tinubu as its only 2027 presidential candidate insulting and irresponsible.
For a large portion of the year, Tinubu’s 2027 campaign posters were also everywhere in Abuja. Many of the billboards and ads remained up for weeks and months until just recently, despite the presidency’s disclaimer at the time and its request to sponsors to remove them.
The distribution of branded vehicles and the employment of RHA coordinators have brought the issue of premature campaigning back, even if the majority of them have since been eliminated.
On November 25, President Tinubu appointed the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, as Renewed Hope Ambassador and tasked him with “evangelising the Tinubu administration’s programmes.”
“In his role as ambassador, he will double as the Director-General for Party Outreach, Engagement and Mobilisation,” a statement signed by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga said.
According to the statement, the president also directed Governor Uzodimma to ensure Nigerians are aware of, and understand, the administration’s achievements.
Tinubu behaves more like a candidate than a president – ADC
The ADC denounced the president in a statement released in Abuja on Thursday for purportedly launching his 2027 campaign when the nation was in a state of emergency. “A cynically insensitive action that makes nonsense of the emergency declaration itself” is how the party characterised the action.
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, denounced the provision 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.”
According to the ADC, the president was acting more like a candidate than the head of a country under siege by “launching his re-election campaign under the guise of Renewed Hope Ambassadors.”
The statement continued: “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.”
Vehicles sign of insensitivity, abuse of trust – Peter Obi
According to Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the most recent election, any government’s decision to use limited funds to buy and distribute luxury vehicles like Hilux trucks and Hummer buses, particularly in light of the 2027 political mobilisation, is not only callous but also a grave moral failure at a time when Nigerians are dealing with hunger, unemployment, and insecurity.
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He expressed concern that while common Nigerians struggle with poverty and despair, individuals in positions of authority continue to drive around in brand-new Land Cruisers, Hiluxes, and Hummers, using the suffering of the populace as a backdrop for political theatre. “A tragic misplacement of priorities that is completely unacceptable” is how he characterised the circumstances.
According to Obi, it is depressing that when mothers are dying during childbirth due to a lack of basic medical supplies, when children are dropping out of school because their families cannot afford basic tuition, and when insecurity is tearing families apart across different regions, the response of those in authority is to channel funds into luxury vehicles rather than urgent interventions that affect people’s lives.
“This is not governance,” he said. “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.”
Vehicles not linked to 2027 – APC
However, the APC denied allegations that the distribution of cars was connected to early election campaigning in 2027. Alhaji Bala Ibrahim, the APC National Director of Publicity, told Daily Trust that the ruling party had not broken any aspect of the Electoral Act.
He stated that a party in power has the right to organise, mobilise, and stabilise its base and that the vehicles and actions of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors are within the bounds of normal political involvement.
He added that political parties routinely distribute materials and equipment and that such gestures should not automatically be interpreted as electioneering.
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