Key Takeaways
- The APC’s 2027 campaign council includes serving heads of key public institutions.
- Nigeria Revenue Service chairman Zacch Adedeji is deputy director of fundraising.
- Budget Office director-general Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi has been assigned a finance role.
- Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi and Bank of Industry CEO Supo Olusi are also listed in campaign directorates.
- Critics question whether these roles compromise institutional neutrality and public trust.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s newly formed 2027 presidential campaign council has ignited debate over the involvement of serving government officials in partisan campaign activities. The All Progressives Congress (APC) unveiled the council on August 22, and several members hold responsibilities that appear closely connected to their day-to-day public duties.
Serving Officials in Campaign Roles
Among the most scrutinised appointees are Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS); Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation; Lateef Fagbemi, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; and Supo Olusi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Industry (BOI).
Adedeji was named Deputy Director of Fundraising. Kurfi was assigned a role within the campaign’s finance structure. Fagbemi appears among members of the Legal Directorate, while Olusi was appointed Deputy Director of Manufacturing and MSME Sector Mobilisation.
The Fundraising Question
Adedeji’s appointment has attracted the sharpest attention because of the direct overlap between his campaign assignment and his official portfolio. As NRS chairman, he leads the federal agency responsible for tax administration and revenue collection. His role as Deputy Director of Fundraising in a presidential campaign raises an obvious question: can the head of the country’s tax agency simultaneously coordinate political fundraising without creating a perception of impropriety?
Kurfi’s case raises similar concerns. The Budget Office coordinates preparation and implementation of the Federal Government’s budget and supplies fiscal information for national planning. Placing its head inside a partisan campaign finance structure invites scrutiny, particularly because of the sensitivity of the fiscal data his office manages.
Kwankwaso’s Criticism
Former Kano State governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso specifically questioned the inclusion of Kurfi and Adedeji. He argued that officials responsible for public revenue and national finances should maintain institutional neutrality. His criticism broadened the debate beyond individuals to the fundamental issue of whether serving heads of critical institutions should hold senior positions in a presidential campaign.
Legal and Industrial Dimensions
Fagbemi’s role presents a different dimension. As Attorney-General, he is the Federal Government’s chief legal officer and remains responsible for advising the government and representing it in legal matters. His presence in the campaign’s Legal Directorate is understandable from a partisan perspective, but it complicates the perceived separation between his official legal duties and political activity.
Olusi’s appointment also drew attention because the Bank of Industry is a government-owned development finance institution focused on businesses, industries, and micro, small and medium enterprises. His campaign assignment in manufacturing and MSME sector mobilisation sits squarely within the bank’s institutional mandate. That overlap has led observers to ask where the line should be drawn between public institutional responsibility and partisan political work.
A Wider Question of Public Office and Politics
The four appointments have renewed attention on the presence of serving officials inside the APC’s campaign machinery. The core issue is not whether public officials may hold political affiliations. Instead, the debate centres on whether those who lead institutions expected to serve the public interest should actively work for a party campaign while remaining in charge of those institutions.
Critics warn that such arrangements could blur the distinction between government institutions and the governing party, potentially weakening public confidence in institutional neutrality. The overlap is especially visible in the cases of Adedeji, Kurfi, and Olusi, whose campaign tasks relate to revenue, public finances, manufacturing, and MSMEs, all areas tied to the mandates of the bodies they lead.
No law has been cited as breached by these appointments, and the APC has given no indication that the officials will step aside from their government positions. The criticism, for now, centres on institutional propriety, perceived conflicts of interest, and public perception as the 2027 election season builds.
Why This Matters
When the people who manage a country’s revenue, budget, justice system, and development finance also run a party’s campaign, the boundary between state and political party becomes dangerously thin. Public trust depends on keeping that boundary visible, and these appointments make it harder for Nigerians to see where official duty ends and partisan interest begins.