The African Democratic Congress has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of exploiting the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari for political gain.

ADC described the recent tributes by the Federal Government on Buhari as “hypocritical, opportunistic and carefully stage-managed.”

But the All Progressives Congress described the allegation as insensitive, cautioning ADC against playing politics with Buhari’s death.

In a statement issued on Friday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said the Tinubu-led Federal Executive Council’s public mourning; including the presence of Buhar’s son, Yusuf, was part of a calculated public relations stunt designed to whitewash the government’s image, especially in the North.

“The choreographed Federal Executive Council tribute, complete with a publicised appearance by our late President’s grieving son, was not a demonstration of genuine respect.

“It was a calculated public relations stunt by an unpopular government, carefully stage-managed to distract Nigerians from the administration’s deepening failures and to rewrite history while the nation mourns. This is hypocritical and in bad taste,” said Abdullahi.

 The ADC, which had earlier warned of a plot by the Federal Government to politicise Buhari’s death, expressed outrage over what it termed “the exploitation of a mourning family.”

It argued that Yusuf, a private citizen still grieving the loss of his father, should never have been used “as a prop in a political show.”

 “Nigerians must ask, what kind of government uses the private pain of a bereaved family to varnish its own public image?” Abdullahi said.

 He alleged that the Tinubu administration had consistently distanced itself from Buhari’s policies since assuming office in 2023, blaming him for the removal of fuel subsidies, economic hardship, and a deteriorating public sector.

 Abdullahi said, “For months, the official stance of the Tinubu Presidency was that Nigeria’s hardship was Buhari’s fault. The message was clear: Buhari was the problem, Tinubu was the solution.

“But now that it suits their political agenda, they seek to recast themselves as defenders of the late President’s legacy; pretending to give him in death the honour they denied him while he was alive.”

He also condemned what it described as a “larger agenda” to use the former President’s memory as a political cover for unpopular policies.

“Grief is not a campaign strategy.  What we witnessed at the Federal Executive Council this week was only a part of the larger plan that is still unfolding.

“The exploitation of a mourning son who was compelled to perform gratitude in front of the cameras is unconscionable and must be condemned by all decent people.”

 “No public relations stunt can save a government that has behaved in the last two years like an army of occupation,” Abdullahi stated.

But the All Progressives Congress cautioned ADC against exploiting Buhari’s for political advantage.

The National Deputy Organising Secretary of the APC, Chidi Duru, issued the warning in an interview with one of our correspondents on Friday.

Duru expressed dismay over Abdullahi’s comment, describing it as insensitive and unbefitting of a public figure, particularly at a time when the nation was mourning a former leader.

“I will like to think there are things that are off-limit, more importantly when it has to do with the passing on of a loved one.

“Whatever we think of him, as diverse as it may be, the former President has passed on. The reality is that there are those who will miss him, if not the whole country, more importantly his family.

“We need to be very sensitive with how we politicise issues like this to allow the loved ones to mourn the loss of their father, uncle, brother or cousin. It is not everything we must play politics with.”