The African Democratic Congress has criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress for allegedly placing emphasis on early 2027 re-election efforts for President Bola Tinubu.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC accused the APC of violating electoral laws and showing insensitivity to the sufferings of Nigerians through premature campaign rallies and endorsement activities.

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday warned political parties and aspirants against engaging in early campaign activities ahead of the 2027 general elections, stressing that such moves contravene the Electoral Act.

Speaking with our correspondent Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, emphasised that the commission had not issued a timetable for the 2027 polls.

The warning follows growing public concerns over the increasing display of political posters, indirect endorsements, and heated rhetoric among politicians developments widely seen as early signs of electioneering.

Abdullahi said the orchestrated endorsements and campaign billboards violate INEC’s rule banning electioneering until 150 days before the 2027 polls.

He argued that while the APC was “hoisting billboards instead of fixing the nation’s broken economy,” inflation has soared, the naira has collapsed, petrol prices have multiplied, and kidnapping has morphed into an industry.

The statement read in part, “For several months, APC organs have staged rallies and erected billboards endorsing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term. From the Abuja national caucus that proclaimed him sole candidate, to choreographed declarations in Port Harcourt, Minna, Kano, and Akure.

“These theatrics brazenly ignore the Electoral Act and the fresh warning issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which reminds every politician that public campaigning is illegal until one hundred and fifty days before polling day.

“While the ruling party chants four more years and sings songs of a sinking mandate, prices have galloped beyond the reach of ordinary citizens. Headline inflation, already 22 per cent in 2023, rocketed to a 30-year high of almost 35 per cent last December and still hovers above 22 per cent today, meaning food, transport, and rent now cost roughly 60 per cent more than they did at the time he took office.

“The naira has crumbled from about N461 to the dollar in early 2023 to well over N1,500, wiping out savings and strangling small enterprises. Petrol that once sold for N185 per litre before subsidy removal now averages more than N1,000, turning every journey to work or market into an exercise in anguish.”

ADC warned that debt is consuming national resources, citing World Bank data showing debt servicing exceeds total revenue, leaving little for essential services, adding that despite weak revenue generation, the government continues excessive borrowing.

The party added, “When it comes to insecurity, in communities across the nation, security has deteriorated into a national nightmare. Between April and June this year, 122 security personnel consisting of NSCDC, police and soldiers have been killed; 1,865 civilians have been killed, and over 3,132 security-related killings have been reported across the nation.

“Only last Friday, more than 50 people were seized in a major case of mass abduction in Sabon Gari Dirmi, north of Zamfara State. Nigerians are being abducted at an industrial scale while President Tinubu chases after adoption for second term.  Instead of security personnel, our streets are lined with the President’s campaign billboards.

“In the power sector, the national grid collapsed a dozen times last year and several times this year, exposing the hollowness of President Tinubu and the APC’s promises of reliable power. Corruption indices still rank Nigeria in the bottom quarter of the world and press-freedom scores have fallen 10 places in a single year, as independent journalists face mounting pressure.

Under the APC, Nigerians are hungry, sick and scared, but instead of finding real solutions to these problems as they promised to do, the government has been busy building an army of digital propagandists and illusion creators.

“The ADC therefore demands that the APC dismantles its unlawful campaign machinery, respect the law it swore to uphold, and focus on rescuing Nigerians from grinding inflation, a battered naira, rampant insecurity, and collapsing public services. Until the lawful campaign window opens, every political billboard is a billboard of illegality and should be removed as they are campaign materials.”