• President brooks no opposition, Momodu alleges
• George links PDP crisis to greed, disregard for founding fathers

African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his recent remark about the state of democracy in Nigeria. 

During an Iftar (break of fast) with the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Tinubu dismissed opposition criticism of his handling of the Electoral Act 2026 amendment, asserting that democracy is a game that “is sweet if you are winning”.

ADC described the remark as cynical, saying “it makes a mockery of democratic participation and reduces the serious business of government to a mere game.”

Also, ADC chieftain, Dele Momodu, has alleged that Tinubu does not want opposition and will do “anything and everything” to exterminate the opposition in the country. 

Meanwhile, former National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olabode George, has traced the lingering crisis within the party to avarice and a growing disregard for the foundational principles that once guided the party.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, yesterday, ADCpointed out that the comment raised serious questions about the President’s democratic credentials and his understanding of the grave responsibilities of leadership at a time millions of Nigerians were struggling with rising violence, unemployment and widespread poverty across the country.

The statement reads: “The ADC strongly rejects President Tinubu’s recent remarks, which cynically dismiss opposition objections to the Electoral Act 2026, while reducing the serious business of governance to a mere ‘game’.

“The President, while attempting to explain his hasty assent to the much-maligned Act, told the opposition to stop complaining and meet him at the polls. He added, ‘The game is sweet only when you’re winning.” 

According to the ADC, it was wrong for a sitting President presiding over a country facing deep economic hardship and widespread insecurity to have made such a remark, stressing that: “The remark is not only cynical; it is profoundly troubling.If politics is a game to the President, the Nigerian people are the ones paying the price.

Nigeria does not need a gamer-in-chief. Nigeria needs a leader who understands the weight of the office he holds and the responsibility it carries.”

The presidency is not a prize to be enjoyed; it is a burden to be carried with competence and respect for the Nigerian people and the laws of the Federal Republic.”

Posting on his X page, Momodu urged Nigerians to unite beyond political parties and fight back.

The former presidential candidate noted that Tinubu was responsible for some of the crises witnessed within some opposition political parties.

Momodu wrote: “I do not understand the logic behind this conversation: the only reason NyesomWike could not be suspended or expelled from PDP is his stranglehold on the judiciary and President Tinubu.

“Obi left PDP before the presidential primary. How can any serious commentator blame Atiku Abubakar for the problems of the PDP? PDP chose to throw its primary wide open, a decision that was controlled by Wike’s group, and Wike lost.How was that Atiku’s fault again? Wike lobbied to be Atiku’s running mate and lost out, and later chose to support Tinubu; how’s that Atiku’s fault? Was there a guarantee that either Atiku, Obi or Wike would have defeated Tinubu on the PDP platform?”

According to him, Nigeria’s Constitution supremely allows everyone to pursue his/her own dreams, legitimately. “So, what is this obsession with trying to suppress Atiku, who has never stopped others from pursuing theirs?”
“It should be obvious by now that Tinubu does not want any opposition and he will do anything and everything to exterminate and obliterate opposition, if Nigerians do not unite beyond parties to fight back,” he stressed.

George, during a current affairs interview programme, Frontline, on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ijebu-Ilese, Ogun State, yesterday, insisted that the division in PDP did not emerge from ideological differences, but from the actions of individuals who ignored the rules laid down by the party’s founding fathers.

His comments came amid deepening divisions within the PDP following the 2023 general election, which triggered intense leadership disputes, zoning disagreements and control battles over party structures across states.

The crisis weakened the opposition party and led to a wave of defections by governors, lawmakers and senior members, with many state leaders moving to the APC and other parties in the past year.

George disclosed that the PDP’s zoning formula was conceived to guarantee fairness among Nigeria’s diverse ethnic and regional groups, noting that the arrangement helped stabilise the country’s political structure after years of instability.