ABUJA, Nigeria — The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the leadership crisis in the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) is an indication that President Bola Tinubu has allegedly “lost control” of his administration, and has called on the National Assembly to probe his fitness to continue discharging the functions of his office.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party noted that the BCDA crisis, along with the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal and a pattern of policy reversals, suggests that unelected individuals may have hijacked the President’s constitutional powers to appoint and remove public officers.
The BCDA is reportedly engulfed in a leadership crisis, with multiple persons laying claim to the position of Executive Secretary of the agency. Reports indicate that a man publicly removed from office by presidential directive has continued to occupy the same office and hold meetings with senior government officials.
The ADC expressed alarm at the development, stating: “If the reports concerning the Border Communities Development Agency are true, then this is no longer about one disputed appointment. It is about something far more disturbing: who is actually in charge of the Nigerian Presidency?”
“When a President announces the appointment of one person and another simply ignores that directive and carries on in office, Nigeria is no longer witnessing administrative confusion. We are witnessing a struggle for control of the Presidency itself,” the party stated.
The party added that the Tinubu administration has become “a place where official announcements compete with unofficial power, where competing interests fight over appointments and patronage.” The ADC further argued that the Presidency, like the economy and security situation, has begun to resemble “a system governed by the principle of the survival of the fittest.”
The ADC called on the National Assembly to “immediately exercise its oversight responsibilities and invoke the relevant constitutional provisions to satisfy itself that the President remains fully capable in body and sound mind to discharge the duties of his office.” The party warned that the powers vested in the President must be personally exercised by him and not appropriated by “unelected interests operating behind the scenes.”
“If President Tinubu is unable to assert control over his own Presidency, then the honourable course is to acknowledge that reality and resign. Nigeria cannot afford a Presidency where nobody knows who is truly in charge,” the ADC concluded.
The party also stated that President Tinubu should resign if he can no longer assert control over his administration, insisting that an administration where no one is in charge is not in the interest of the country. The ADC’s call adds to growing political pressure on the President, as opposition parties and civil society groups continue to raise concerns over governance and accountability in the administration. For now, the National Assembly has yet to respond to the ADC’s demand.
