President Tinubu's Special Adviser, Bayo Onanuga, has slammed the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), accusing the party of lacking a concrete programme or manifesto despite its growing profile ahead of the 2027 elections. Onanuga questioned the party's readiness to govern, especially after Peter Obi's defection, stating that his search for their manifesto yielded no results on their website.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has accused the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) of lacking a concrete programme for Nigeria despite the party’s growing political profile ahead of the 2027 elections.
In a statement issued on Friday, Onanuga described the NDC as “a camp for the politically displaced and desperate,” while questioning the party’s readiness to govern the country.
The criticism comes amid increasing attention surrounding the party following the defection of Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, from the African Democratic Congress to the NDC.
According to Onanuga, the NDC is not different from the ADC because it has failed to provide Nigerians with a distinct direction for governance.
“Like ADC, the NDC has no plan for Nigeria yet,” Onanuga said.
The presidential aide explained that he recently visited the party’s website on two occasions to examine whether it had outlined “a markedly different vision for the governance of Nigeria,” compared to President Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda.
He, however, said his search yielded no result despite prompts on the website directing visitors to download the party’s manifesto.
“‘No document found’ was the response I got each time I tried to download the manifesto,” Tinubu’s aide said.
Onanuga also expressed concern that although the party had spoken about pursuing an ideological contest in the 2027 election, it had yet to upload a manifesto since securing court registration in February.
He added that the only visible policy direction on the party’s website consisted of six policy points described as pillars.
According to him, the ideas presented were not substantial enough to qualify as pillars, arguing instead that they “sound more like the platitudes the party’s newest catch, Peter Obi, has bombarded the nation with in the last six years”.
Despite the criticism, Onanuga said he remained interested in seeing the NDC eventually unveil its vision and mission for Nigeria.
