Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has alleged that corruption may be among the requirements for securing political appointments under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Dalung made the claim on Tuesday during an interview on Arise Television while reacting to the composition of Tinubu’s 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.
President Tinubu had last week unveiled the campaign council, with former Zamfara State Governor, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, appointed as Director General.
Dalung, who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari, questioned the credibility of the individuals selected to campaign for Tinubu’s re election, particularly those who have faced corruption allegations.
He said, “Corruption might be part of the requirement to secure appointments under Tinubu.
“If you have a campaign council list made up of persons who have corruption allegations hanging on their necks, then you have to question what the future holds for Nigerians if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is re elected in 2027.
“The credibility of any transition process begins with nominations of those qualified to contest, and then those that are put forward to solicit, support, and convince people to support the various candidates.
“Now, the 2027 transition in Nigeria has actually kick started since nominations have been completed and campaigns have also started. Now, of great concern is the list of people saddled with the responsibilities of campaigning for the various candidates.
“So far, we have the list of the APC, and it has elicited serious concern among Nigerians looking at the characters that populated that list.”
Dalung specifically questioned the choice of Yari to lead the campaign council, alleging that the former governor had previously forfeited properties or funds to the Federal Government.
“The chairman of the campaign council himself, the former governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, is somebody who, on so many occasions, has made so many forfeitures of either properties or monies to the federal government of Nigeria, meaning that he’s a corrupt personality.
“We also have Betta Edu, who was also removed for corruption, investigated, and nothing was heard of it.
“We also have a personality, the former Director General of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, Ngozi Olejeme, who also was removed based on corruption,” Dalung said.
The former minister argued that the credibility of the 2027 electoral process would depend not only on the candidates but also on the individuals entrusted with their campaigns.
His comments come amid growing political exchanges between the ruling APC and opposition parties as campaigns for the 2027 general elections intensify.
