The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu of allegedly using the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari for a political publicity stunt.
In a statement issued on Friday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party condemned the Federal Executive Council (FEC) tribute describing it as “a deliberate publicity stunt by an unpopular administration.”
On Thursday, Tinubu delivered a heartfelt tribute to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, calling him “a good, decent, and honourable man”, whose values of discipline, patriotism, and integrity would be remembered for generations.
Speaking at a Special Federal Executive Council session held in Buhari’s honour at the State House in Abuja with members of his family, National Assembly leaders, and others in attendance Tinubu acknowledged that while Buhari had his imperfections, his steadfast dedication to national service distinguished him.
In response, the ADC pointed out that the same administration had spent more than a year holding Buhari responsible for the nation’s economic woes, yet was now engaging in public mourning as a strategy to polish its tarnished image, particularly in the North and among Buhari’s supporters.
The party stated, “The ADC recalled how the government previously distanced itself from Buhari’s policies, especially on fuel subsidy, the economy, and public sector management, only to now attempt to cloak itself in the very legacy it once denounced.
“The African Democratic Congress condemns the Tinubu administration’s sudden and cynical attempt to wrap itself in the memory of the late President Muhammadu Buhari—a man this same government spent over a year blaming, sidelining, and scapegoating for every major challenge confronting the nation.
“The choreographed Federal Executive Council (FEC) tribute, complete with a publicised appearance by our late President’s grieving son, was not a demonstration of genuine respect.
“It was a calculated public relations stunt by an unpopular government, carefully stage-managed to distract Nigerians from the administration’s deepening failures and to rewrite history while the nation mourns.
“This is hypocritical and in bad taste. You cannot spend months discrediting a man’s legacy only to turn around and perform grief for the cameras.”
ADC expressed concern over the involvement of Yusuf Buhari, a private citizen and mourning son, in the political display of a Federal Executive Council meeting just days after his father’s burial.
The party questioned what kind of government would exploit a family’s grief to polish its public image.
It stated, “Nigerians remember that since taking office, the Tinubu administration and its officials have launched a relentless campaign to disown their predecessor’s policies .
“They have blamed Buhari for everything , accused him of fiscal recklessness, and claimed to have inherited a broken economy—not from the opposition, but from their own party’s former leader.
“For months, the official stance of the Tinubu Presidency was that Nigeria’s hardship was Buhari’s fault. The message was clear: Buhari was the problem, Tinubu was the solution.
“But now that it suits their political agenda, they seek to recast themselves as defenders of the late President’s legacy, pretending to give him in death, the honour they denied him while he was alive.
“Recall that earlier this week, the ADC warned the family of the late President of the Plan by government to make political gains from their father’s death.
“What we witnessed at the Federal Executive Council this week was only a part of the larger plan that had only started to unfold.”
The opposition coalition maintained that no amount of public relations tactics can rescue a government that, over the past two years, has acted more like an occupying force than a leadership serving its people.
ADC added, “The unfolding stage-managed displays of grief and the exploitation of a mourning son who was compelled to perform gratitude in front of the cameras is unconscionable and must be condemned by all decent people.
“Nevertheless, we are confident that Nigerians can see through their grand deceit.
“No public relations stunt can save a government that has behaved in the last two years like an army of occupation.”
The Punch
