The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says President Bola Tinubu is being misled by state governors about the true extent of insecurity in the country and urged him to engage directly with citizens to understand their realities.
The party, which has been adopted by the opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 elections, argued that insecurity continues to plague many areas despite claims by the Tinubu administration.
“I actually think President Tinubu needs to leave the Villa and go on the streets and talk to people and stop listening to this kind of narrative [that insecurity has been degraded] and stop listening to state governors who are just saying what they think they need to say to endear themselves to power rather than tell him the true feelings of the people,” said Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC spokesman, on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
Abdullahi’s remarks were in response to statements made by presidential spokesman Daniel Bwala, who had said that insecurity had declined under President Tinubu’s leadership.
Bwala, also appearing on the same programme, argued that the security situation had improved since Tinubu assumed office.
He said, “Recently, we’ve been having a series of problems in Benue. Has it not gone down? We have had in Plateau. Has it not gone down? Look at the IPOB issue, unknown gunmen. You know, 2022, 2023, the case of murder there. You know how they were kidnapping people coming to people’s houses in the heart of the town.”
The presidential aide added, “Insecurity has been degraded to a large extent. What we are seeing in Nigeria is criminal tendencies that have no core relationship with whether somebody is governing well or not, because it exists in every part of this world.”
In contrast, Abdullahi criticised Bwala’s assessment, calling it a distortion of the country’s security situation.
“I feel sorry for President Tinubu because if this is the kind of narrative that he gets to hear all the time, then it is natural and obvious that he lives in a bubble,” he stated.
The ADC expressed concern over worsening insecurity nationwide, claiming that numerous communities remain under threat from criminal elements.
