Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO), on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) have criticised President Bola Tinubu’s silence over allegations that serving ministers paid billions of naira to secure their appointments.

Makinde’s group called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the matter.

The organisation said the alleged payments, reportedly disclosed by a spokesperson for the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, Alwan Hassan, raised questions about transparency, accountability and the integrity of ministerial appointments under the current administration.

In a statement yesterday, signed by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Nnanna Ihediwa, the campaign organisation said the Presidency’s failure to address the allegation, five days after it was reportedly made on national television, had heightened public concerns about possible corruption at the highest levels of government.

It urged the EFCC to launch an independent investigation, identify anyone involved and ensure that those found culpable were prosecuted in accordance with the law.

Hassan was reported to have said that some ministers paid billions of naira to secure their appointments and subsequently prioritised recouping their alleged investments.

In its response, the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to investigate Mr Alwan Hassan’ allegation.

The ADC-PCC said the allegation, reportedly made during a live television programme, raises serious questions about the integrity of ministerial appointments, accountability in government and the circumstances surrounding the selection of members of the Federal Executive Council.

The ADC- PCC queried: “If substantiated, such an allegation would represent a grave indictment of the process through which public offices are filled and the principles of public service. It is particularly troubling that the allegation is attributed to a figure associated with the President’s political camp.”

The ADC-PCC Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Okogbodiyan, in a statement insisted that Nigerians deserved an unequivocal response from the Presidency, pointing out that “an allegation of this magnitude cannot simply be ignored or dismissed without a transparent explanation.

“The allegation, if established, would suggest that ministerial appointments were treated as private investments rather than positions of public trust. It would also raise concerns about whether decisions affecting millions of Nigerians are being influenced by the personal financial interests of those entrusted with public responsibility.”

The ADC-PCC argued that the allegation raised fundamental questions about the administration’s much-publicised Renewed Hope Agenda and whether the interests of ordinary Nigerians were receiving the attention they deserve.