Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over an unexpected payment made into one of his personal bank accounts.
According to Atiku, an unidentified person allegedly obtained the details of the private account and transferred money into it without seeking his approval or informing him.
The development was disclosed in a Friday statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
Shaibu said the transaction was made into an account belonging to Atiku at a major Nigerian commercial bank and was described as “Contribution Electioneering Campaign.”
He stressed that Atiku and his campaign team neither requested the payment nor authorised it, adding that they do not know the individual or organisation responsible for the transaction.
“The transfer originated from a person totally unknown to His Excellency with the narration ‘Contribution Electioneering Campaign’,” Shaibu stated.
“Neither His Excellency nor his campaign solicited, authorised, or has any knowledge of the individual or entity behind the unauthorized payment.”
Atiku said the situation was disturbing because the account involved is a private account and its details are not publicly accessible.
He questioned how an unknown person could have obtained the banking information in the first place.
“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?” he said.
The ADC presidential candidate warned that the alleged incident could raise wider concerns about the safety of Nigerians’ financial information.
He argued that if the confidential banking details of a former Vice-President and presidential candidate could allegedly be accessed without permission, other citizens could also be exposed to similar risks.
“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,” Atiku said.
He also raised concerns that the information might have been obtained through someone with privileged access to confidential financial records.
Atiku warned that such a breach, if established, could potentially expose victims to criminals, including kidnappers, terrorists, bandits and fraudsters.
He consequently called on Nigerians and security agencies to pay attention to the development, describing it as another suspicious incident coming as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
