African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s Democracy Day address, accusing the administration of offering fresh promises instead of accounting for its performance after three years in office and more than a decade of All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership at the federal level.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the opposition party said while it joined Nigerians in honouring the sacrifices of pro-democracy activists and celebrating 27 years of uninterrupted democratic rule, the President missed an opportunity to explain how his administration has improved the lives of ordinary citizens.
According to the ADC, the address sounded more like that of a candidate seeking re-election than a leader approaching his fourth year in office.
“President Tinubu’s address was long on promises and short on answers. What Nigerians heard today was not the speech of a government entering its fourth year in office. It was the speech of a candidate seeking another mandate,” the party stated.
The ADC noted that throughout the speech, the President urged Nigerians to remain hopeful that economic reforms would eventually produce positive results, but argued that many citizens are still waiting to see tangible improvements in their daily lives.
“The question Nigerians should be asking is simple: after three years of President Tinubu and eleven years of APC rule, why are we still talking about promises?” the statement said.
The party recalled that when the APC assumed power in 2015, it pledged to tackle insecurity, revive the economy, create jobs, reduce poverty and strengthen institutions. It argued that the continued emphasis on many of the same issues suggested that key promises made to Nigerians remain unmet.
“The fact that the President is still making many of the same promises that brought the APC to power is itself an admission that those promises remain unfulfilled,” ADC said.
The opposition party further accused the President of presenting his administration as though it was only beginning its work despite having spent three years in office.
“At this stage, Nigerians are not interested in projections. They are interested in outcomes. They are not looking for assurances. They are looking for evidence,” the statement added.
The ADC also took issue with the President’s assessment of the economy, arguing that his remarks did not sufficiently reflect the hardship being experienced by millions of Nigerians.
“The President spoke extensively about economic reforms. Yet he failed to adequately address the reality that millions of Nigerians are experiencing one of the most severe cost-of-living crises in recent memory. Food prices remain painfully high. Transportation costs have soared. Small businesses continue to struggle under rising operating expenses. Families across the country are making painful sacrifices simply to survive.”
According to the party, Democracy Day should have provided an opportunity for the President to account for the APC’s record in government and explain why many Nigerians continue to grapple with economic hardship, unemployment and declining confidence in public institutions.
“Democracy Day should have been an opportunity for the President to account for eleven years of APC stewardship,” the ADC stated, adding that Nigerians deserved explanations rather than “another catalogue of future intentions.”
The party maintained that a government that continues to seek patience from citizens after years in office is effectively acknowledging that expected results have not materialised.
“The ADC believes that a government that is still making promises after eleven years in power is effectively admitting that it has not delivered. A government that continues to ask for patience after three years in office is acknowledging that the promised results have not materialised.”
The statement concluded by insisting that Nigerians deserve concrete outcomes rather than renewed assurances.
“President Tinubu’s Democracy Day address confirms what many Nigerians already know: this administration is increasingly focused on managing expectations rather than delivering outcomes. The government wants credit for promises and applause for intentions, while ordinary Nigerians continue to bear the consequences of its failures.”
The ADC urged the federal government to shift its focus from future projections to measurable improvements in the lives of citizens, insisting that Nigerians deserve accountability after years of APC governance.