The Media Office of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of failing to explain the reported ₦12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote (SWV) contained in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by Atiku’s Strategic Media Associate, Olusola Sanni, the media office described the APC’s response to the issue as evidence of a “guilty conscience.”

The statement was a reaction to comments by APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, who defended the Service-Wide Vote and dismissed Atiku’s earlier criticism.

According to the Atiku Media Office, the ruling party failed to address concerns over the sharp increase in the allocation, choosing instead to attack the former vice president personally.

It questioned the justification for raising the Service-Wide Vote from ₦638.34 billion in the 2024 budget to more than ₦12.8 trillion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, describing the increase of about 1,918 percent within two years as alarming.

The media office argued that while the Service-Wide Vote is a legitimate budgetary provision, Nigerians deserve a detailed explanation of why the allocation has risen to a level it claims rivals the combined budgets of critical sectors such as defence, education, healthcare and works.

It also raised concerns over what it described as vague project descriptions and insufficient details attached to parts of the allocation, warning that the absence of transparency could undermine public accountability.

The Atiku camp called on the Federal Government to publish a comprehensive breakdown of the ₦12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote, including the projects, beneficiaries, implementing agencies and legal basis for each expenditure, insisting that full disclosure is necessary to assure Nigerians that public funds are being managed responsibly.