The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Tinubu government of exploiting the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari for political gains. In a statement, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, described the government’s actions as “a cynical and opportunistic attempt to wrap itself in the memory” of Buhari.

Abdullahi said the choreographed Federal Executive Council (FEC) tribute and the publicised appearance of Buhari’s grieving son, Yusuf, were “a calculated PR stunt by an unpopular government.” “Grief is not a campaign strategy,” Abdullahi said, warning that the late President’s family should be left alone to mourn their father in peace rather than being dragged into a “political circus show.”

The ADC noted that the government had spent over a year blaming Buhari for the country’s economic troubles, only to now perform public grief in a bid to whitewash its battered image, especially in the North and among Buhari loyalists. “You cannot spend months discrediting a man’s legacy only to turn around and perform grief for the cameras,” Abdullahi said.

Abdullahi questioned the government’s motives, asking, “What kind of government uses the private pain of a bereaved family to varnish its own public image?” He expressed confidence that Nigerians can see through the government’s “grand deceit,” saying, “No public relations stunt can save a government that has behaved in the last two years like an army of occupation.”

The ADC had earlier warned the family of the late President of the government’s plan to make political gains from his death, and Abdullahi said 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.