Atiku raises alarm over unauthorized ‘campaign’ payment into private account

ABUJA — Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has raised concerns over what he described as an unauthorised payment made into one of his private bank accounts, questioning how the sender obtained confidential details that he says were never made public.

Atiku’s media aide, Phrank Shaibu, disclosed the development in a statement on Friday, describing the incident as a serious breach of financial privacy coming at a politically sensitive period ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to Shaibu, an unidentified person transferred money into one of Atiku’s personal accounts with a major Nigerian commercial bank.

The transaction reportedly carried the narration “Contribution Electioneering Campaign”—a description Atiku said was particularly troubling because neither he nor his political team requested or authorised the payment.

“The transfer originated from a person totally unknown to His Excellency with the narration ‘Contribution Electioneering Campaign’,” the statement said.

“Neither His Excellency nor his campaign solicited, authorised, or has any knowledge of the individual or entity behind the unauthorized payment.”

Atiku’s camp said the account is strictly personal and its details are not publicly available, raising questions over how an unknown party was able to obtain the information required to make the transfer.

“The account is a strictly private one whose details are not in the public domain. This raises a fundamental question: How did unknown persons obtain the confidential banking details of a private citizen?”

‘No Nigerian’s financial privacy is safe’

The former Vice-President suggested that the incident could represent a wider security concern if confidential banking information is being accessed without the knowledge of account holders.

“If the private banking information of a former Vice President and a leading presidential candidate can be accessed and deployed for reasons yet unknown, then no Nigerian’s financial privacy is safe,” he said.

Atiku’s camp also raised the possibility that the account information may have been obtained through someone with privileged access to confidential financial data.

“Even more disturbing is the suspicion that such confidential information may have been obtained through persons with privileged access. If established, this would amount to a grave abuse of power capable of exposing the account holder to kidnappers, terrorists, bandits, fraudsters and other criminal elements,” the statement added.

The former Vice-President did not identify the person or organisation responsible for the payment, nor did he provide evidence establishing how the account details were obtained.

His camp instead called attention to the need for the incident to be examined, particularly given Atiku’s status as a major opposition figure and presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election.

“We therefore put the Nigerian public, and the security agencies, on notice about this latest incident in a litany of suspicious activities leading up to next year’s general elections,” the statement said.

Election-year security concerns

The allegation comes as Nigeria’s political parties and presidential hopefuls increasingly position themselves for the 2027 elections.

Atiku, who previously contested the presidency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, is now the ADC’s presidential candidate as opposition figures seek to build an alternative political platform ahead of the poll.

The unexplained payment has therefore added a financial-security dimension to an increasingly charged political environment.

Atiku’s central concern, however, goes beyond the money itself: how confidential banking information belonging to a prominent Nigerian could allegedly fall into the hands of an unknown person without his consent or knowledge.

Whether the transaction resulted from a banking error, an information leak, deliberate interference or another circumstance remains to be established.