Atiku Unveils 2027 Campaign Council, Moghalu Disowns Appointment, APC Opens Fire

… ex-CBN deputy governor says he wasn’t consulted, insists he quit partisan politics

… el-Rufai, Melaye, Momodu, Hayatu-Deen make campaign team as Morka attacks ex-VP’s record

By Franklin Adole

The battle for the 2027 presidency intensified on Thursday as African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, unveiled a national campaign council packed with prominent political figures, only to run into an early controversy after former Central Bank of Nigeria Deputy Governor, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, disowned his inclusion in the campaign’s policy team.

The development came as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) launched a blistering attack on Atiku’s record in public office, reopening a string of past controversies and urging Nigerians to scrutinise the former Vice President before deciding who should control the nation’s treasury.

Atiku named Kashim Ibrahim-Imam as Chairman of his Presidential Campaign Council, with incarcerated former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as Deputy Chairman, while Senator Austin Akobundu was appointed Director-General and Campaign Manager.

But barely had the campaign structure been unveiled when Moghalu publicly rejected his inclusion.

The Atiku campaign had named economist and banker Mohammed Hayatu-Deen to coordinate the Policy Team alongside Professor Mohammed Sagagi and other members, including Moghalu.

Moghalu, however, said he was surprised to discover that his name had been included, insisting that neither Atiku nor the ADC campaign consulted him or obtained his consent.

“I was not consulted and did not give my consent to my name being published as a member of the ADC candidate’s policy team,” the former CBN deputy governor said.

He went further to categorically distance himself from the campaign, declaring that he was not a member of Atiku’s policy team “even unofficially or in any advisory capacity.”

Moghalu said he had quit partisan politics in Nigeria since 2022 and had maintained a non-partisan position in national affairs, stressing that he was neither a member nor sympathiser of any Nigerian political party.

He said his principal engagements were now as President of IGET Africa, a non-partisan public policy think tank and executive education academy, and Chief Executive Officer of Sogato Strategies, a geopolitical risk and regulatory strategy advisory firm.

Moghalu said his commitment to Nigeria and its development should not be interpreted as partisan political alignment, adding that he had chosen “the path of statesmanship, not partisanship.”

His repudiation immediately cast a shadow over the unveiling of the campaign structure and raised questions about how his name came to be included without his consent. There was no immediate public response from Atiku or his campaign explaining the circumstances of Moghalu’s inclusion.

Meanwhile, almost simultaneously with the unveiling, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, issued a statement asking Nigerians to scrutinise Atiku’s record, citing past controversies involving the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, the Siemens bribery scandal, the William Jefferson case, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund controversy, and a 2010 investigation by the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Morka alleged that the controversies raised serious questions about Atiku’s handling of public trust and finances and argued that the former Vice President should not be entrusted with the presidency or control of the national treasury.

The APC spokesman also attacked Atiku over his pledge to restore fuel subsidies if elected, describing the position as a reversal of his support for subsidy removal during the 2023 presidential campaign.

Morka claimed that Atiku’s subsidy proposal threatened gains from the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms and accused him of seeking to reverse policies the APC says have strengthened Nigeria’s fiscal and foreign exchange position.

The APC statement further cited a payment of $500,000 made in 2003 by Sunrise Power promoter, Leno Adesanya, to an offshore company linked to Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s then-wife, which featured in proceedings surrounding the Mambilla power project.

Atiku has previously rejected attempts to portray the arbitration proceedings as establishing corruption against him. His camp has maintained that the commercial arbitration did not constitute a criminal finding against the former Vice President and that the tribunal did not find that Atiku personally received a bribe or used his office to procure the Mambilla contract.

Morka also revisited the Siemens bribery affair, saying US records showed that about $2.8 million in payments linked to the wider scandal passed through an account associated with Douglas. Siemens ultimately paid more than $1.6 billion to settle bribery-related cases with US and German authorities.

He further cited the 2010 US Senate investigation, which examined more than $40 million in funds transferred into the United States through offshore entities and accounts associated with Douglas and her family. Douglas denied wrongdoing.

The APC spokesman also invoked former US Congressman William Jefferson’s corruption case and former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s criticisms of Atiku, including Obasanjo’s August 2026 statement that, with hindsight, he would not have selected Atiku as his running mate in 1999.

Atiku has disputed Obasanjo’s characterisation of their relationship and maintained that their political differences were rooted partly in his opposition to the former President’s alleged third-term ambition.

While the APC was reopening old controversies around Atiku, the former Vice President moved to assemble the political machinery for his latest presidential bid.

Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council and Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, said the campaign structure comprises six operational directorates and 30 directors.

Veteran journalist and publisher Dele Momodu will oversee Media and Communications, while former Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye will handle Contact and Mobilisation.

Former Edo State Governor and pioneer APC National Chairman, John Oyegun, was named Chairman of the Campaign Advisory Board.

Shaibu described the structure as a lean and people-driven campaign designed around the economic pressures confronting Nigerians, saying its central issues would include the cost of living, unemployment, insecurity, and declining purchasing power.

He said the campaign would seek to demonstrate discipline in its operations at a time when families were grappling with food prices, transportation costs, and shrinking incomes.

“Our measure of success will be how clearly we address the cost of living, unemployment, insecurity, and declining purchasing power—and how effectively we organise to make Nigeria affordable again,” Shaibu said.

The unveiling effectively fires the starting gun on Atiku’s nationwide campaign organisation, with former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi running alongside him as the ADC vice-presidential candidate.

But Moghalu’s swift repudiation of his appointment has handed the campaign an unexpected controversy at its launch, even as the APC signals that Atiku’s record in government and his economic proposals will form major lines of attack in the increasingly heated 2027 presidential contest.