The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the distribution of luxury Toyota Prado SUVs to selected party youth leaders, estimating the cost of the vehicles at more than ₦1 billion.
The opposition party made the criticism after APC National Youth Leader Dayo Israel shared a video showing brand-new 2026 Toyota Prado SUVs that he said were presented to selected youth leaders to support election mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to the video in a post on X, the NDC claimed that seven vehicles were shown and estimated their combined value at ₦1.015 billion, arguing that the expenditure highlighted misplaced priorities amid Nigeria’s economic challenges.
“The average cost of a brand-new 2026 Toyota Prado is ₦145,000,000. In this video, we counted seven such vehicles, and the number could be even higher,” the party said.
“The total cost of these seven vehicles alone amounts to ₦1,015,000,000.”
The NDC accused the Tinubu administration of asking Nigerians to endure economic hardship while political leaders continued to enjoy expensive benefits.
“While the rudderless, clueless, and ruinous administration of President Bola Tinubu has been asking Nigerians to endure the pains of its wicked and cruel reforms, this is how taxpayers’ money is being spent,” the party said.
It added: “The wasteful APC-led administration is funding the lavish lifestyles of politicians while ordinary Nigerians wallow in poverty.”
The opposition party also urged Nigerians to vote the APC out of power in the 2027 general election, describing the move as a civic responsibility.
“We cannot continue like this. We owe Nigerians and the unborn generation the civic duty to vote the ruinous administration of President Bola Tinubu out of power,” the NDC said.
The party used the controversy to promote its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, saying he was committed to reducing the cost of governance if elected.
“Our presidential candidate is strongly committed to cutting the cost of governance,” the NDC said, urging Nigerians to support Obi for what it described as “a new and working Nigeria for all, and not for a corrupt few”.
Israel had earlier announced the distribution of the vehicles in a social media post, saying they were intended to support the activities of selected youth leaders during the election period.
“Today, I presented brand new 2026 Prado to my committed selected youth leaders to aid their election mobilisation activities,” he wrote.
He also expressed appreciation to First Lady Oluremi Tinubu for what he described as her continued support for the APC’s structure under his leadership.
“I am grateful to my Mummy, H.E Mrs Oluremi Tinubu for her continuous support to the party structure under my leadership,” Israel said.
The APC youth leader added that the party would focus on grassroots mobilisation ahead of the elections, declaring that it would “deliver polling unit by polling unit”.
The NDC’s estimate of ₦1.015 billion is based on its stated average price of ₦145 million per vehicle and its count of seven SUVs in the video. The figure represents the opposition party’s valuation; the supplied report does not independently establish the vehicles’ purchase prices or how they were funded.
