Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has confirmed the appointment of Senator Augustine Okwudiri Akobundu as Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council.
The appointment, which confirmed an earlier exclusive report by the Nigerian Tribune, was contained in a press statement issued by the ADC Presidential Campaign Council on Thursday, which noted the campaign has entered a new phase of organisation, coordination and nationwide mobilisation.
According to the statement, with the council already unveiled, focus now shifts from composition to execution — from assembling the campaign structure to activating it across the country.
“At the centre of that task is Senator Akobundu, a retired Colonel of the Nigerian Army, former Minister of State for Defence, experienced party administrator and serving Senator representing Abia Central Senatorial District,” the statement said.
It said his mandate is clear: coordinate political, organisational and operational machinery of the campaign, align its structures across federation and ensure every arm of Presidential Campaign Council works with discipline, coherence and purpose.
The statement described Akobundu as prepared for responsibility by his career spanning military, party administration, executive service and legislature.
A graduate of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Akobundu served the Nigerian Army in several command and staff appointments before retiring as Colonel in 2000, with exposure to strategic planning, coordination and disciplined execution.
Following retirement, he built career in business, politics and public administration, serving as Chairman of Board of Management of University College Hospital, Ibadan, and later as Minister of State for Defence under President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
His political experience includes serving as National Vice Chairman and South-East Zonal Chairman, as well as National Organising Secretary, background said to be central to harmonising campaign structures and strengthening field operations.
Currently representing Abia Central Senatorial District in National Assembly, his legislative work has focused on education, infrastructure, healthcare, youth empowerment and human-capital development, including scholarships, vocational and digital-skills programmes, medical outreaches and infrastructure initiatives, and interventions on critical infrastructure including Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene Federal Road.
The statement noted Akobundu formally joined ADC in March 2026 and has since become part of party’s national political structure.
“His appointment as Director-General therefore brings together the experience of a soldier, administrator, politician and legislator at the operational centre of the presidential campaign,” it added.
It said: “The campaign structure has been unveiled. The leadership is in place. The task before the Director-General is now to convert that structure into a coordinated national campaign operation.”
