ABUJA — The political landscape shifted significantly on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, as the newly forged opposition alliance under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) took its campaign to the heart of the northern traditional leadership.
In a high-stakes meeting with the Hausa/Fulani Abuja Chiefs, the ADC’s presidential frontrunner, Peter Obi, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar delivered a scorched-earth assessment of the President Bola Tinubu administration, labeling its current fiscal priorities as “criminal neglect.”
The ₦36 Million Health Bombshell
The highlight of the engagement was a devastating breakdown of the 2025 budget performance presented by Peter Obi. The former Anambra Governor stunned the traditional rulers with figures that he claimed proved the government has abandoned the Nigerian people.
“The only thing working in Nigeria today is bad news,” Obi declared to the gathered chiefs. “Look at the records: this administration spent ₦360 million on a presidential plane, yet they released a paltry ₦36 million as the total capital vote for the entire Ministry of Health. We are buying luxury in the air while our hospitals on the ground have become mortuaries.”
The ₦36 million figure echoes recent testimony from the Ministry of Health, where it was revealed that despite a multi-billion naira appropriation, actual releases for medical infrastructure have been virtually non-existent in the 2025 fiscal year.
“Anyone Who Fails to Transmit Will Be Transmitted”
The duo also took aim at the 2026 Electoral Act, signed into law by the President just hours earlier. Obi issued a veiled but stern warning to electoral umpires and security agencies regarding the controversial “optional” electronic transmission of results.
“They have signed a law to make transmission optional, thinking they can return us to the dark ages of manual rigging,” Obi said. “Let the message go out: in 2027, anyone who does not transmit our votes will be transmitted out of office. Nigerians will no longer accept results written in bedrooms.”
“The Activism of the Sidelined”—Nigerians Fire Back
While the ADC’s message resonated with those frustrated by the ₦100,000 cost of a bag of rice, the meeting has also drawn sharp criticism from a cross-section of Nigerians who remain skeptical of the new “Mega Party” coalition.
- “Recycled Promises”: Critics on social media have blasted the Atiku-Obi alliance, reminding them that they were both part of the PDP system that governed for 16 years. “It’s easy to talk about health budgets now, but what was the state of our hospitals when Atiku was Vice President?” one popular commentator on X (formerly Twitter) noted.
- “The 2027 Distraction”: Many Nigerians expressed exhaustion with the early start to the 2027 campaign. “They are already sharing offices for 2027 while the people are being kidnapped in Umuahia and killed in Benue today. It shows they are only interested in power, not our lives,” a resident of Abuja remarked.
- “Show Us the Alternative”:Â Analysts argued that while the ADC is good at “roasting” the APC, they have yet to present a detailed economic blueprint to solve the currency crisis. “Anger is not a policy. We need to know how they will fix the Naira, not just how much was spent on a plane,” noted a Lagos-based economist.
A Unified Front
The meeting marks the strongest public appearance yet for the ADC coalition, which now reportedly includes Rotimi Amaechi and the recently detained Nasir El-Rufai. By engaging the Hausa/Fulani chiefs in the capital, the alliance is clearly signaling its intent to make a serious play for the Northern vote, which proved decisive in the 2023 polls.
As of Thursday morning, February 19, the Presidency has not issued a formal rebuttal to the “₦36 million health release” claim.
