Democracy day address exposes APC’s 11-year failure –  ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described President Bola Tinubu’s Democracy Day address as a campaign speech that laid bare what it called the failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to deliver on its promises after 11 years in power.

In a statement on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party said the President’s speech offered Nigerians fresh promises instead of answers to the deepening economic hardship, insecurity and unemployment confronting the country.

According to the ADC, President Tinubu’s repeated assurances that prosperity, jobs and improved security are on the horizon amount to an admission that the APC was yet to fulfil the commitments that brought it to power in 2015.

“After three years of President Tinubu and eleven years of APC rule, Nigerians deserve results, not recycled promises,” the party said.

The ADC argued that Democracy Day should have been an occasion for the President to account for his administration’s performance and the APC’s decade-long stewardship, rather than present what it described as another catalogue of future intentions.

The party noted that millions of Nigerians continue to struggle under one of the worst cost-of-living crises in recent history, with soaring food prices, rising transport fares, shrinking incomes and businesses battling mounting operating costs.

“Nigerians are not looking for projections or assurances. They are looking for evidence that their lives are improving,” the statement said.

The ADC further accused the administration of focusing on managing expectations instead of delivering measurable outcomes, insisting that a government still asking for patience after more than a decade in power is effectively acknowledging its failure to produce the promised results.

The ADC also condemned the National Assembly for proceeding on recess on Democracy Day, describing the decision as a disappointing display of poor democratic consciousness.

While paying tribute to the heroes of June 12 and celebrating 27 years of uninterrupted democratic rule, the ADC maintained that democracy must be judged by the welfare of citizens and the accountability of those in power.