Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has thrown down the gauntlet to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanding the immediate disclosure of cabinet ministers and public officials who allegedly paid billions of naira in bribes to secure their appointments.
​The demand follows explosive revelations by Alwan Hassan, a spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, during a live television interview.
​Speaking on Arise News while defending President Tinubu’s administrative strategy ahead of the upcoming 2027 general elections, Alwan Hassan claimed that buying cabinet seats is an established norm in Nigerian politics.
​”A lot of ministers pay billions and billions to get themselves appointed, and the first thing they think of is how to recoup that money after being appointed,” Hassan stated on live television. “It is the truth about our country, and not just APC ministers; it started before the APC.”
​Hassan further alleged that ministers were often the most financially corrupt public officials across successive administrations. He attempted to praise President Tinubu for exercising tight control over revenue disbursements, arguing that withholding full budget funds from ministries was a deliberate attempt to curtail ministerial corruption.
​Responding publicly on Friday, October 23, 2026, Atiku Abubakar called on President Tinubu to address the bribery allegations head-on rather than maintaining silence.
​”Bola @officialABAT, your campaign spokesman has admitted that ministers paid billions in bribes to secure their appointments. You appointed them, so who received the money? Nigerians deserve names, not silence,” Atiku wrote.
​Atiku also linked the bribery controversy to the economic hardship currently facing the country, criticizing the administration’s fiscal management:
​”Your government’s reckless decisions have driven the cost-of-living crisis. And when you withhold funds from ministries because you distrust your own ministers, Nigerians are left paying for a government that has abandoned them.”
​Following the interview, Arise News presenter Charles Aniagolu noted that Hassan’s statements raise alarming questions about the integrity of public appointments in Nigeria. Aniagolu emphasized that public office must remain a public trust rather than a private investment venture aimed at recouping financial outflows.
​As of Friday evening, the Presidency had not issued an official response to Atiku’s challenge, with Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga unreachable for comments. Civil society groups and political analysts continue to demand a formal, independent investigation into the allegations to clarify who collected the alleged billions.
