ADC Spokesperson Criticizes Tinubu’s Security Narrative, Citing Widespread National Crisis
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu of overlooking the full scale of Nigeria’s security crisis, following a social media exchange that highlighted deepening public frustration over escalating violence across multiple regions.
The confrontation began with a recent post by President Tinubu, who focused on the persistent threat of Boko Haram in the North-East. In his message, the president stated that the group’s attacks and the resulting civilian casualties demonstrated a failure of national governance.
Bolaji Abdullahi, national spokesperson for the opposition ADC, directly responded by recontextualizing the president’s remarks. In a reply tweet, Abdullahi substituted the North-East with specific states grappling with different forms of violence, including Kwara and Katsina. “The festering insecurity and violent attacks in Kwara, Katsina and other parts of the country, and massacre of innocent Nigerians is concrete proof that Nigeria has no government,” he wrote, mirroring the president’s phrasing but broadening the geographic scope.
The exchange underscores a key political divergence in framing Nigeria’s security challenges. While the president’s comment centered on the decade-long Islamist insurgency in the North-East, the ADC’s rebuttal pointed to a more complex landscape of violence that includes armed banditry in the northwest, herder-farmer clashes in the Middle Belt, and separatist agitations in the Southeast. Security analysts note that in the past year, deadly raids by criminal gangs, often locally termed “bandits,” have killed hundreds in states like Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina, rivaling Boko Haram’s lethality in some periods.
The ADC, a smaller opposition party, used the platform to argue that the administration’s response has been inadequate and narrowly focused. Abdullahi’s intervention suggests a strategic effort by opposition figures to challenge the government’s narrative and mobilize public sentiment around a perceived nationwide failure to ensure safety.
This public spat occurs amid consistently high levels of insecurity. Despite ongoing military operations, communities across Nigeria report frequent kidnappings for ransom, village raids, and massacres. The situation has fueled national debates about the effectiveness of security strategies and the dispersion of state capacity.
The back-and-forth on social media reflects how Nigeria’s security crisis is increasingly a battleground for political rhetoric. For many citizens, the visceral reality of violence in their daily lives transcends regional boundaries, making the distinction between “North-East” and “other parts” a point of acute political sensitivity. The ADC’s move to amplify incidents in non-traditional conflict zones signals an intent to hold the federal government accountable for a unified national security mandate.
The dialogue highlights the persistent pressure on President Tinubu’s administration to demonstrate tangible progress in curbing violence, as opposing politicians continue to frame the issue as a fundamental test of governmental existence and competence.
