The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has bluntly advised President Bola Tinubu to “prepare to leave” office in 2027, issuing the directive in response to recent assertions from the Presidency that the President has no plans to extend his tenure beyond 2031.
The opposition party described the Presidency’s remarks as presumptuous and a sign that the administration is dangerously out of touch with the suffering of Nigerians.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC declared that Tinubu’s mandate ends in 2027 and expressed confidence that Nigerians would not wish to extend his tenure “by a single day.” The party argued that given the widespread insecurity, economic hardship, and “flagrant abuse of power,” the President should be focused on an exit strategy rather than planning for a second term.
The statement read, “The presidency’s desperate response to the recent remarks by former governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, that President Bola Tinubu has plans to be a life President only serves to confirm what Nigerians have long suspected: this administration is not only out of touch with reality, it has also become dangerously self-satisfied.”
The ADC launched a sweeping critique of the Tinubu administration’s performance over the past two years, citing a comprehensive failure across key sectors. On security, the party claimed, “national security has degenerated into a cruel joke,” with bandits and terrorists operating with impunity. “Insecurity has metastasized into national trauma, and the government has neither the will nor the capacity to stop it,” the statement added.
Economically, the party painted a picture of collapse, noting that the “Naira has collapsed, inflation was out of control, food prices have tripled… and jobs were vanishing.” It further stated that the middle class was disappearing and businesses were failing under the weight of “punitive taxes and policy inconsistencies.”
The ADC also highlighted failures in the power sector, education, and healthcare, accusing the government of opacity and fiscal indiscipline. “Transparency and fiscal discipline have become relics of a forgotten era. The administration has embraced secrecy as a governance principle,” the party claimed.
Drawing a parallel to Tinubu’s political history in Lagos State, the ADC warned against any attempt to replicate a model of prolonged control on a national level. “What he perfected in Lagos, he now seeks to replicate on a national scale. But let it be said clearly and without ambiguity: Nigeria is not Lagos,” the statement read.
Concluding with a rallying cry, the ADC framed the next election as a battle between the ruling party and the citizenry. “Nigerians are watching. And come 2027, it won’t be APC versus ADC, it will be APC versus the Nigerian people,” the party stated, firmly standing by its position that President Tinubu’s time in office should end in 2027.
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