A motor drive controller includes a control unit configured to control a motor drive unit, wherein the motor drive unit includes switching circuits for the three-phase windings, respectively, each of the switching circuits including two switching elements, wherein the control unit is configured to place a first switching element among the two switching elements in an “on” state for an energization period while placing a second switching element among the two switching elements in an “off” state, to place the second switching element alternately in the “on” and “off” states for the energization period while placing the first switching element in the “off” state, and to control the second switching element in an overlapping period during which two adjacent windings among the three-phase windings are placed in a same energization state, such that a magnitude of energization of the two adjacent windings changes gradually in a linear or nonlinear fashion.