The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, says an unknown individual transferred money into his private bank account with the narration “Contribution Electioneering Campaign,” triggering concerns about how the sender obtained his account details.
The former vice-president disclosed the incident through his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, on Friday. According to Shaibu, neither Atiku nor his campaign requested, approved or knew about the payment before it appeared in the account.
“The transfer originated from a person totally unknown to His Excellency with the narration ‘Contribution Electioneering Campaign.’ Neither His Excellency nor his campaign solicited, authorised or has any knowledge of the individual or entity behind the unauthorised payment.”
Shaibu said the account is strictly private and insisted its details are not available to the public. He questioned how someone outside Atiku’s team obtained the information.
“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?”
Neither Atiku’s team nor the sender disclosed the amount transferred, leaving both the value of the payment and the sender’s identity unknown.
Meanwhile, Shaibu warned that the incident should concern every Nigerian with a bank account. He said anyone could become a target if private account details fall into the wrong hands.
“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 urged security agencies to identify the sender, determine how the private account details were obtained and investigate the circumstances surrounding the unsolicited campaign donation as political activities gather momentum ahead of the 2027 general election.
