THE Presidency has sharply criticised the African Democratic Congress (ADC) over its recent remarks on the state burial of former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the party’s statement as “obnoxious,” “dishonest,” and a desperate ploy for political relevance.
In a strongly worded statement released on Friday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Mr. Sunday Dare, accused the ADC of exploiting a solemn national moment for cheap political attention.
The ADC had earlier alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was using Buhari’s death for political gain.
Reacting, the Presidency called the allegation “an opportunistic exercise in manufactured outrage,” describing the ADC as “a poorly amalgamated political contraption clutching at straws for relevance it will never attain.”
“This is not the first time the ADC, in its pitiful, stuttering attempts at reinvention, has embarrassed itself with hollow, attention-seeking criticisms,” Dare said.
“A party still battling an identity crisis has no business lecturing the President of the Federal Republic on governance or decorum.”
The State House said the Buhari burial was conducted with full honours befitting a former Head of State, attended by world leaders and millions of Nigerians, and followed nationwide with solemnity.
“President Tinubu’s government did not politicise Buhari’s death. It is the ADC and their allies who chose to dance on his grave, from Atiku and El-Rufai’s choreographed appearance in Daura to this disgraceful press release,” Dare stated.
In defense of President Tinubu’s leadership, the Presidency also highlighted several key achievements of the current administration, including:
• Stabilisation of the naira and harmonisation of exchange rates
• Increase in oil production to 1.7 million barrels per day
• Over 60% growth in FAAC allocations to states
• Restoration of salaries and pensions in 31 states
• Resilient naira economy, decoupled from oil market volatility
• Completion of key infrastructure projects including the Ogbia-Nembe Road and Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway
• Launch of the student loan scheme (NELFUND), benefiting over 400,000 students
• Establishment of regional development commissions
• Launch of a new national consumer credit scheme
“These are not just promises; they are measurable, ongoing results,” the statement said, contrasting Tinubu’s record with what it called the ADC’s “sanctimonious whining.”
The State House further accused the ADC of being consumed by internal legal crises and lacking a coherent policy agenda.
“If the ADC spent even half the energy it uses on press releases addressing its own internal squabbles, it might be taken seriously,” the statement read. “Nigerians are not fooled. No press release, no matter how venomous, can erase the facts of this administration’s progress.”
The statement concluded by urging the public to disregard what it described as “political noise from an outfit gasping for attention,” reaffirming the Tinubu administration’s commitment to delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda and preserving the legacy of the late former President Buhari with dignity.