- ADC said Tinubu’s government exploited Buhari’s death to gain political favour and distract from governance failures.
- Abdullahi alleged the PR stunt aimed at winning sympathy in the north and among Buhari loyalists.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the federal executive council for paying tribute to the late former president, Muhammadu Buhari.
This is contained in a statement issued on Friday by the interim national publicity secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi.
The former minister described the tribute and the appearance of Buhari’s son, Yusuf, as a “calculated PR stunt.”
He accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of using Buhari’s death as a political tool to cleanse its tainted reputation.
According to Abdullahi, the government that blamed Buhari for over a year is now trying to leverage his legacy to survive politically.
“This administration has consistently distanced itself from Buhari’s policies, especially on subsidy removal, the economy, and public sector governance,” the statement reads.
“Now, it seeks to align with the very legacy it spent months tearing down.
“Nigerians must ask, what kind of government uses the private pain of a bereaved family to varnish its own public image?
“The choreographed tribute at FEC 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 its deepening failures.
“You cannot spend months discrediting a man’s legacy only to turn around and perform grief for the cameras.”
Abdullahi claimed the FEC tribute was part of a larger plan to gain sympathy in the north and win over Buhari loyalists.
“Earlier this week, we warned the late president’s family of this plan,” Abdullahi said.
“What we witnessed at FEC was only the beginning. The exploitation of a mourning son, compelled to perform gratitude before the cameras, is unconscionable and must be condemned by all decent people.
“Grief is not a campaign strategy. Let the family mourn their father in peace.”
The party’s spokesman said no amount of PR effort could redeem what he described as “a government that has behaved, in the last two years, like an army of occupation.”