The Presidency has dismissed the opposition coalition currently rallying under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a desperate and disjointed attempt to unseat President Bola Tinubu, urging them instead to prepare for the 2031 general election.
Presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, who addressed journalists in Abuja on Saturday, said those coalescing around the ADC to challenge the President’s second-term ambition were motivated by “avarice and opportunism” rather than any genuine national interest.
“There is no vacancy in Aso Rock until 2031,” Dare said pointedly. “President Tinubu is barely two years into a transformative administration that has delivered reforms with courage, stability with clarity, and vision with determination.”
The statement comes amid growing clamour from opposition elements seeking to build a “Third Force” to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next general election. But Dare insisted that the Tinubu administration remained unshaken and unmatched in democratic capacity and political reach.
“The Presidency already rests with the region rightfully due. And that’s where it will be till 2031,” Dare stated, taking aim at what he described as “disgruntled politicians” who had “carried their political harlotry” to the ADC.
He said none of the figures in the emerging coalition possess the discipline, selflessness, or grassroots support to replicate what happened in 2013 when a disciplined merger produced the APC and unseated an incumbent.
“In 2013, the merger that birthed the APC was driven by national interest. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, despite commanding the loyalty of several sitting governors, chose to wait. He bided his time, played the long game, and built a viable political structure,” he explained.
Dare contrasted that with the current opposition coalition, saying, “Today, no one in this coalition commands that kind of loyalty or trust. Not one of them could genuinely unite a ward, let alone a country.”
He further dismissed the coalition’s narrative of injustice in the system, calling it a “political fairy tale” sold to manipulate public sentiment.
“There is no injustice to redress — only an ambition to control the national treasury. Nigerians are too wise to fall for this illusion,” Dare said.
The Presidency had earlier in the week released a statement describing the adoption of the ADC by the opposition bloc as a “laughable copycat move” with no ideological backbone.
“Those eyeing 2027 should instead look to 2031,” Dare concluded. “President Tinubu’s leadership is secure, and the Nigerian people are witnesses to his commitment and achievements.”
