President Bola Tnubu’s Tuesday remarks to Catholic Bishops on the improving security and economic situation in the country sparked backlash Wednesday with opposition parties challenging his claims and questioning the administration’s handling of pressing national problems.
African Democratic Congress (ADC) criticised Tinubu for vowing to “fight to the finish” politically, telling him to focus on fixing the country’s security crisis and defeating terrorists, rather than fighting the opposition.
National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, who voiced the criticism, also said, at a different forum, that members of the party would not trust their votes with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the coming elections.
That was as Allied People’s Movement (APM) described as illusory claims by the president to the Catholic Bishops that the economy and the security situation in the country had improved.
APM said such claims stood in sharp contrast to the harsh realities on the ground.
In a related development, former Vice President and presidential candidate of ADC, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday, described the latest revelation that the federal government exceeded its 2024 borrowing limit by N4.79 trillion, pushing fresh borrowing to N12.62 trillion, as further proof that the Tinubu administration had lost control of the country’s finances.
Equally, Wednesday, the media office of the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, accused the federal government and its political allies of deliberately diverting public attention from Nigeria’s worsening economic and security challenges by amplifying trivial controversies.
In a statement signed by Abdullahi, ADC slammed the president’s “fight to the finish” comments as a disturbing political obsession at a time when the country was grappling with worsening insecurity, including the recent attack on Naridon village in Kaduna State that claimed at least 30 lives.
Describing Tinubu as Nigeria’s “Statement Maker-in-Chief,” ADC said the president had become “a commentator” on insecurity but “a combatant” against the opposition, accusing his administration of responding to attacks with condemnations rather than decisive action.
ADC said it was deeply concerned that Tinubu chose his meeting with members of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to declare that he was prepared to “fight to the finish” politically, even as Nigerians continued to live under the shadow of terrorism, banditry and violent crime.
According to the ADC spokesman, ‘’This is our message: Mr President, the fight Nigerians elected you to lead is not against the opposition. It is against the terrorists, kidnappers, and armed criminals who continue to kill innocent citizens and destabilise communities across the country.’’
Abdullahi added, ‘’Only hours before the president’s remarks, at least 30 people were killed in a late-night attack on Naridon village in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Homes were burnt. Families were displaced. Another community was left devastated by an attack that should never have happened.
‘’Yet, the president, whose primary duty is to protect and preserve Nigerian lives, has chosen, instead, to serve as Nigeria’s Statement Maker-in-Chief. After every attack comes another statement. After every massacre comes another condemnation.
‘’After every tragedy comes another expression of sympathy. Nigerians did not elect a Commander-in-Chief to become the nation’s chief issuer of condolence statements.”
ADC said, ‘’What is equally disturbing is that when it comes to insecurity, President Tinubu is a commentator. However, when it comes to the opposition, he is a combatant. Mr President should reserve decisive words and actions like ‘fight to the finish’ to defeat the terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers who continue to shed innocent Nigerian blood, not the opposition who want to save Nigerians from his misrule and failure.
‘’Instead of preparing for another political fight, President Tinubu should be leading the fight against those who have turned communities across the country into killing fields and forced countless Nigerians from their homes. That is the battle the country expects him to win.”
The statement said, ‘’After more than three years in office, this administration cannot point to a security record that justifies political bravado.
“Given its catastrophic failure to secure lives and property, one would have expected the president to be reflecting on his record, not digging in politically.”
ADC said it believed elections were won by performance, not by declarations of political toughness.
Abdullahi added, ‘’The president’s real opponents are not the opposition. They are terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and the growing insecurity that continues to claim innocent Nigerian lives.
“Those are the enemies he was elected to fight, and as things stand today, they remain undefeated.’’
We won’t leave its votes in INEC’s hands
Meanwhile, speaking in Ilorin on Wednesday Abdullahi said in 2027, ADC would not trust its votes with INEC.
He stressed, “For ADC to win 2027 elections, the party would defend its votes wholeheartedly during the period.”
He told newsmen during an exercise to sensitise residents of the state on the presence of ADC in the state.
Abdullahi said, “With due respect, INEC still has people that are committed to doing the right thing but we are not going to run our election based on trust.
“We know what they are capable of doing, we trusted them in 2023 and we saw what happened, we are not going to trust them with our votes.
“That’s why we are saying whether in a free and fair election or not Tinubu will lose because we are going to protect our votes, we don’t trust them.”
On how they planned to protect their votes, Abdullahi said, “We are not going to tell you but that’s what we are going to do if we must win this election.
“When we were planning it, they thought that they would not be able to sensitise the people because we don’t have money unlike other parties who will rent a crowd.
“We were shocked that people walked from Adeita roundabout in the heart of Ilorin to this place (Basin area of Ilorin) where the ADC state secretariat is located and that is unbelievable and this also shows that ADC is the alternative for Kwarans come 2027.”
Abdullahi urged Kwarans to join the new shift in the politics of the state to advance the socio-economic growth of the rural populace come 2027.
APM to FG: Your Claims of Economic Recovery Illusory
APM described claims by Tinubu at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) that the economic and security situation in the country had improved as illusory.
APM said such claims stood in stark contrast to the harsh realities on the ground.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, the opposition said the president made such false claims to spiritual leaders of the status of Catholic Bishops, at a time when millions of Nigerian families were sinking deeper into abject poverty and terrorists were having a field day killing, maiming, and kidnapping citizens across the country.
APM stated, ‘’It is unfortunate that instead of being candid about his failures and seeking help, President Tinubu is engaging in forum shopping to downplay and play cheap politics with the nation’s dire security and economic situation.
‘’Contrary to claims by President Tinubu that ‘the economy has recovered’ and that his administration has steered the nation from ‘bankruptcy and the dark tunnel of uncertainty,’ independent data from credible institutions show that the poverty rate has risen above 63 per cent in 2026.
‘’This indicates that over 140 million Nigerians have been plunged into poverty under the Tinubu administration.’’
Yusuf stated, ‘’How can President Tinubu make such claims when, in reality, his administration has mortgaged the future of our nation through reckless external borrowing, which has risen to a scary $51.86 billion under his misrule and is projected to hit $72.6 billion by 2027?
‘’How can President Tinubu think that any Nigerian, let alone clergymen who are in constant touch with the suffering masses, will believe his claims that the economy is improving, especially after he triggered an increase in fuel price to over N1,500 per litre; a development that set off an adverse chain reaction that pushed transport fare, food prices, school fees, medical bills, house rents, electricity tariffs, and the prices of everyday goods and services far beyond the reach of ordinary citizens?’’
On security, APM invited Nigerians to note that the Tinubu administration had taken no decisive action beyond making promises and commitments in the fight against terrorism. Yusuf said, “Instead, some officials of the Tinubu administration and certain leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) continue to make unguarded statements that embolden terrorists, including voicing antagonism against calls for an international probe into acts of terrorism in Nigeria.”
The APM spokesman stated, ‘’Since President Tinubu claims that Nigeria is better under his administration, the APM challenges him not to travel abroad for medical treatment, but rather to stay in the country for the remainder of his term and benefit from the ‘wonderful’ healthcare his administration has provided.’’
APM also challenged Tinubu to demonstrate his claimed achievements by leaving the comfort of the Presidential Villa to travel by road to any city of his choice in Nigeria or visit any local market, and attempt to tell Nigerians that their lives had improved over the last three years.
APM urged Tinubu’s handlers to stop exposing the president to public ridicule, as such forum shopping to peddle false performance claims will not save him from defeat in the 2027 general election.
The party stated, ‘’Indeed, such antics will not help President Tinubu against our presidential candidate, Oyo State Governor Engr. Seyi Makinde, who has demonstrated the requisite capacity, administrative skill, presence of mind and integrity to effectively lead our nation out of the woods where President Tinubu has plunged it.’’
Chuks Okocha, Sunday Aborisade and Hammed Shittu
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