The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has accused former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of advancing President Bola Tinubu’s political interests by asking former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race in favour of Peter Obi.


The council described Kwankwaso’s call as reckless and self-serving, alleging that it was an attempt to weaken the opposition ahead of the election.

In a press statement, the Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC-PCC, Kola Ologbondiyan, criticised Kwankwaso over comments he made during an interview on Channels Television.

Ologbondiyan accused the former governor of focusing on opposition figures instead of challenging the Tinubu administration, which he said Nigerians were eager to vote out.

He also expressed confidence that Atiku could win Kano State in the 2027 presidential election, regardless of whether Kwankwaso supported him.

According to him, the rising cost of living, hunger, poverty and insecurity would play major roles in determining voters’ decisions.

The ADC-PCC spokesman questioned Kwankwaso’s position, given his political alignment with Peter Obi and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He argued that opposition leaders should work together to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) rather than attack one another.

“Rather than campaigning against President Tinubu, whose administration Nigerians are eagerly working to vote out, Kwankwaso is fixated on Atiku Abubakar, the ADC candidate, whom millions of Nigerians believe can restore economic stability and make life affordable again,” Ologbondiyan said.

He further questioned Kwankwaso’s motives, suggesting that the former governor was more interested in his future political ambitions than in addressing Nigeria’s present challenges.

“Why is Kwankwaso so obsessed with Atiku? The answer may lie in his own political calculations. Having reportedly described the office of the Vice President as a ‘spare tyre’, he appears more concerned about positioning himself for the 2031 presidential election rather than addressing the urgent challenges confronting Nigerians today,” he added.

Ologbondiyan alleged that Kwankwaso’s actions could benefit the ruling party by creating divisions among opposition politicians.

“What Kwankwaso is doing amounts to advancing President Tinubu’s interests. It is a familiar APC strategy to use willing collaborators within the opposition to create confusion, sow division and weaken the collective efforts to bring about political change,” he said.

He maintained that Kwankwaso’s support was not essential for a candidate to win Kano, citing the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections, when former President Muhammadu Buhari secured victories in the state despite not having Kwankwaso’s backing.

The ADC-PCC spokesman also questioned Kwankwaso’s ability to translate his strong political base in Kano into nationwide electoral success.

“Kwankwaso must come to terms with the realities of the national political landscape. His influence should not be confused with the capacity to win a presidential election.

“If his political relevance were as extensive as he suggests, why did he finish fourth in the last presidential election?” he queried.

He further alleged that Kwankwaso’s support for Obi was motivated partly by personal ambition and the possibility of future political negotiations.

The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour, Chief Titi Atiku Abubakar, wife of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said Nigerian girls are becoming a nuisance in foreign countries, a situation she said has contributed to international partners’ support for anti-human trafficking efforts in Nigeria.

Abubakar made the statement on Thursday in Abuja at the public presentation of NACTAL’s review of the 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report released by the United States Department of State.

Explaining the motivation behind the support from international partners, she said they wanted Nigerian girls to remain in the country rather than migrate abroad and become a burden on their host countries.

“You see, why our partners are actually helping us? Because they want our girls to stay at home. Our girls are becoming nuisance in overseas countries. So that is why these partners are helping us,” she said.

She added that the partners were supporting both Nigeria’s anti-trafficking efforts and the girls to enable them to remain in their country.

“They are supporting us, they are supporting the girls. They want them to stay at home and do whatever they want to do in their homes, in their country,” Abubakar said.

The NACTAL board chair also called for stronger collaboration among civil society organisations, saying the network could not tackle human trafficking, abuse and child labour without broader participation.

She described the organisations working with NACTAL as frontline actors in the fight against trafficking and related offences.

“NACTAL has about 286 foot soldiers, those are the CSOs that are working with NACTAL because NACTAL alone cannot do it. So we must bring everybody on board to help in this fight,” she said.

Meanwhile, the immediate past president of NACTAL and regional representative of the West African Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, Abdulganiu Abubakar, said the network’s review of the 2025 US report found that the contributions of the Nigerian government, development partners and civil society organisations were underrepresented.

He said the review was commissioned after the report’s release to examine its assessment of Nigeria’s efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in victim protection, rehabilitation and shelter provision.

According to him, development partners had supported policy development, provided assistance to victims and helped refurbish shelters operated by civil society organisations and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.

Abubakar said about 10 NAPTIP shelters had benefited from refurbishment support, but the interventions were not adequately captured in the US report.


He added that the contributions of more than 289 NACTAL member organisations and Nigeria’s role in regional anti-trafficking initiatives in West Africa deserved greater recognition.

However, he acknowledged that Nigeria continued to face challenges in implementing anti-trafficking policies, citing inadequate funding, weak political will and shortcomings in the prosecution of cases, particularly high-profile cases.

He urged the Federal Government to increase funding for ministries, departments and agencies responsible for combating human trafficking and demonstrate stronger commitment to enforcing existing policies.

“The government of Nigeria needs to do a lot in terms of funding. The political will and commitment should improve,” he said.

Abubakar also called on the government to create an enabling environment for civil society organisations and development partners to operate independently while complementing government efforts.

He further urged the authorities to recognise investigative journalists who expose human trafficking cases and alleged perpetrators.

In his remarks, NACTAL President, Osita Osemene, announced plans to increase the network’s membership from about 286 civil society organisations to 500 within the first three months of his administration and at least 1,000 within one year.

Osemene said the expansion would strengthen local participation and improve support for victims and vulnerable groups.

He maintained that the fight against human trafficking should not be left to international partners, urging Nigerians to take greater responsibility for addressing the problem.

“The fight against human trafficking is a collective responsibility, and everybody must come together to ensure that this fight is won,” he said.

Osemene added that his administration would prioritise capacity-building programmes to equip more civil society actors with the professional skills required to respond to human trafficking and child labour cases.

He said the initiative would combine an expansion in membership with training to improve the quality of interventions available to victims.

The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said President Bola Tinubu ended promotion backlogs in the services under the ministry and approved lifetime salaries for retired Comptrollers-General and Deputy Comptrollers-General of Immigration.

Tunji-Ojo said this at the closing ceremony of the Specialised Border Control and Immigration Management System (BCIMS) Training at the Immigration Headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

He commended Tinubu for addressing promotion backlogs, noting that no fewer than 50,000 personnel had gained new ranks and offices within three years.

“It has never happened before, but Tinubu did it. He also increased the volume of recruitment, where we now have no fewer that 40,000 new recruits at once.

“When it comes to salary increment, Mr President has done it. In terms of hazard allowances, peculiar allowance, he also did,” he said.

Tunji-Ojo also praised the President for his commitment to the welfare of active and retired personnel, highlighting the increase in pensions for retired Comptrollers-General of Immigration.

“Previously, CGs had a pension of about N130,000, it was not encouraging. But what did the president do? He signed, and approved salary for life for CGs and DCGs.

“This president has cared for the services more than any president in the history of Nigeria. He has given you his all.

“And all he asks from us in the service is to do our jobs well and make Nigerians happy. Everything we have asked of him, he has done. This the least we can do,” he added.

The minister also described Tinubu as a visionary leader whose policies were intended to have long-term and lasting positive impacts.

Tunji-Ojo noted that under the Renewed Hope Agenda, Tinubu was building a system that would stand the test of time and remain effective even after he left office.

“President Bola Tinubu has never been about the immediate, but the future. He understands that the most prosperous nations do not boil, cook, and eat their seeds, they plant them.

“What this president is doing is planting the seed so that there will be abundance for the future,” he said.

The minister said Tinubu acknowledged that he would not be in office forever, but institutions would remain, adding that what mattered was what would be handed down through generations.