The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Presidency of creating a false narrative about a plot to remove President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office, saying it is an attempt to suppress opposition voices.
In a detailed statement issued on Wednesday, the party said the claim is a tactic aimed at silencing dissent and weakening political opponents ahead of the 2027 elections.
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, Interim National Publicity Secretary of the ADC and spokesperson for the newly formed opposition coalition, said the administration was using unverified threats to justify intimidation.
The statement followed a controversial tweet from Bayo Onanuga, one of President Tinubu’s aides.
The tweet claimed that enemies of the nation’s progress were working together to remove a government Onanuga described as “the most focused, most transformative in our history.” The ADC responded strongly, describing the comment as “reckless and malicious.”
According to the party, “Bayo Onanuga’s tweet is a textbook example of a political dog whistle. The APC-led federal government appears to be constructing a false narrative that is designed to justify potential clampdown on dissent, and to criminalise legitimate opposition activity under the guise of national security.”
The ADC noted that its members are committed to democracy and have no interest in any undemocratic method of leadership change.
“We are not soldiers, we are politicians. We don’t have bullets; we only have the ballots. When the time comes, we will only present our solutions and an alternative vision of the future to the Nigerian people and leave them to make their choice,” the party said.
Abdullahi said it was ironic that the APC, which once rose to power as an opposition party, now seems hostile to the idea of opposition itself.
“We are left to wonder why the APC government is so jittery that it is so eager to betray its own heritage. APC is the first opposition party to come to power in Nigeria. It is therefore a great wonder that the same party now appears to find it strange that there is an opposition at all,” he stated.
The party urged President Tinubu to caution his aides against spreading panic. It warned that careless statements could raise political tension and hurt the country’s fragile democracy. “This manner of crying wolf where there is none does not make the president look good and only betrays a sense of panic,” the statement added.
The ADC also encouraged Nigerians to remain alert and not be fooled by what it described as a plan to discredit the opposition. “The health of our democracy depends on a free, open, and competitive political environment,” it said.
Finally, the party called on global democratic institutions, human rights bodies, and foreign observers to keep an eye on Nigeria’s political space and ensure that democratic rights are respected.
“We call on them to hold the Tinubu administration accountable for any actions that undermine democratic freedoms or violate the political rights of Nigerian citizens,” the statement said.
