The Presidency has criticised the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing it as a political platform struggling to maintain “coherence and balance” in the aftermath of its recent national convention.
The response followed remarks by ADC’s National Legislators Serving and Former Forum, which had faulted President Bola Tinubu over comments allegedly referring to the party’s convention as “noise” and a “street convention.”
The ADC convention was held at the Rainbow Event Centre in Abuja amid reports of a last-minute attempt to halt the gathering.
In its reaction, the forum led by a former lawmaker, Nnenna Ukeje, warned that Nigeria’s democracy was at a delicate stage.
It also accused the current administration of shrinking political space and departing from principles of pluralism and judicial independence.
The group pointed to Tinubu’s history as an opposition figure, noting that he once championed democratic ideals, and argued that his present leadership stance appears inconsistent with those values.
However, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, dismissed the claims in a strongly worded statement released on Saturday via X.
In the statement titled “WHAT’S THAT NOISE! Response to Hon. Nnenna Elendu Ukeje and the ADC Forum of National Legislators,” Dare accused the opposition of amplifying unfounded allegations and attempting to discredit both the President and the electoral process.
“Even before the official commencement of the election season and before the polls open, the ‘opposition’, a hurriedly stitched together contraption in search of a launch pad, are screaming blue murder,” he said.
He also alleged that opposition figures were engaging in a familiar pattern of “attack and blackmail,” aimed at drawing international attention and undermining confidence in the administration.
Dare criticised the ADC forum’s presentation, describing it as heavy on theatrics but lacking substance.
According to him, the party’s statements were more reflective of internal challenges than genuine democratic concerns.
“What Nigerians just witnessed from the ADC motley crowd is not a principled defence of democracy, but a calculated attempt to weaponise rhetoric, manufacture outrage, and distract from internal disarray within a political party struggling to maintain coherence and balance,” he stated.
Interestingly, Dare acknowledged that the ADC had accurately highlighted Tinubu’s democratic credentials during part of its briefing.
He noted that the President’s record in supporting opposition politics and democratic governance remains intact.
“They reminded Nigerians that he mobilised resistance, nurtured political contestation, and remained a central pillar in sustaining democratic governance. On that point, they were correct,” he said.
He however, faulted the forum for subsequently portraying Tinubu as a threat to democracy, describing the argument as contradictory and unsupported by evidence.
“You cannot spend the first half of a press conference affirming a man’s lifelong commitment to democracy, and the second half alleging without proof that he has abandoned it. It simply does not hold,” Dare argued.
On the controversy surrounding the “noise” remark, the presidential aide maintained that the President did not specifically mention the ADC.
He suggested that the party’s reaction may have been an overinterpretation.
“If the description of ‘noise’ resonates, perhaps the issue is not with the statement, but with the conduct it reflects,” he added, insisting that the matter was one of standards rather than suppression.
Dare also rejected claims of judicial interference, describing them as speculative and potentially harmful to democratic institutions.
“Nigeria’s judiciary remains constitutionally independent, and no amount of conjecture can substitute for evidence,” he said, warning that such allegations could erode public trust in the courts.
He stressed that while democracy thrives on competition, it also requires organisation, discipline, and credibility qualities he implied were lacking in the ADC’s recent actions.
