The APC Presidential Campaign Council has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of disrespecting the office of the President by linking President Bola Tinubu's name to the Ebola outbreak in a recent statement. In a response signed by council spokesperson Dele Alake on Wednesday, October 22, 2026, the APC body described the Atiku camp's release as an exercise in "patent ignorance," noting that it deliberately played on the President's first name to draw a connection to the disease.
APC Defends Government's Handling of Ebola Index Case
The council defended the government's handling of the index case, explaining that Ebola's incubation period runs from two to 21 days, with symptoms typically appearing eight to ten days after exposure. Because an infected person cannot transmit the virus before showing symptoms, the traveller from Uganda was not symptomatic on arrival at Abuja airport and could not have been flagged at that point.
Alake said the patient only later sought hospital care, at which point several tests confirmed the diagnosis. He added that a surveillance network involving the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and other agencies had already identified the index case and traced 44 contacts.
N10bn Ebola Fund Remains Untouched, Says APC
On the question of how the government spent the N10 billion approved by President Tinubu in June for the Ebola emergency, Alake said the funds remain intact. He explained that the NCDC, FAAN, and other agencies managed the response using resources already at their disposal, and called on Nigerians to recognise their efforts.
The APC council also pushed back on Atiku's claim that a ministerial press briefing on the outbreak was designed to suppress attendance at campaign rallies or discourage voters, calling the allegation speculative and unsupported by any evidence.
APC Urges Opposition to Stop Politicising Health Crisis
"Vice President Atiku cannot make such a serious allegation without verifiable evidence, especially in the thick of electioneering," Alake said. The statement closed with a call for the opposition to stop scoring political points off a public health crisis and instead encourage Nigerians to follow the protocols announced by the Presidential Task Force on Ebola.
"Linking and rhyming President Bola Tinubu's name to Ebola only risks turning a serious health concern into a vehicle to ridicule the President of the Federal Republic," Alake wrote, urging the opposition to support health authorities managing the crisis.
