The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described as absurd the request by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, despite the escalating insecurity and loss of control over parts of the country to bandits.
ADC, in a statement issued by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, questioned how a government that cannot guarantee peace and security within its own borders could expect to be taken seriously in global security conversations.
The party cited the latest attack in Yandoto village, Zamfara State, where gunmen stormed a mosque last Friday, killing worshippers and abducting several others. It recalled that only a few weeks earlier, about 45 people were killed in similar attacks in Zamfara, while another 47 died in Katsina State. Amnesty International, the party noted, reported that over 10,000 lives were lost to armed groups in May alone.
“These are not just numbers; they were human beings, Nigerians to whom this administration promised renewed hope,” the ADC stated.
The party further revealed that armed gangs in Zamfara recently extorted over ₦56 million from farmers before allowing them access to their farmlands. It questioned whether the state is still effectively part of Nigeria, given the level of lawlessness.
“When non-state actors collect taxes, control access to farms, and kill with impunity, they are no longer mere criminals, they are a parallel government,” the statement said, warning that Nigeria’s territorial integrity is being “willfully subverted under President Bola Tinubu.”
ADC argued that the situation reflects not just a failure of security but evidence that the government has lost control. In any serious country, it said, such a situation would have triggered resignations, emergency meetings, and strategic overhauls. Instead, it lamented, the response has been limited to “routine condolence tweets from presidential propagandists.”
“This is why we find it patently absurd that the same administration, under whose watch Nigerians are being massacred without let or hindrance, and under whose watch sundry bandits have taken control of parts of the nation’s territory, could stand before the world and ask to be admitted to the highest level of security conversations,” the party said.
According to ADC, Nigeria’s bid for a Security Council seat will remain laughable until the government demonstrates both the capacity and the political will to secure the lives of its citizens.
“Leadership on the global stage must begin with responsibility at home. You cannot be asking to be admitted into the club of those who take the lives of their citizens seriously, while the land you govern is soaked with the blood of the people you swore to protect,” it added.
The party also faulted President Tinubu for his absence at the passing-out parade and commissioning of 874 officers at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, last Saturday, the second time he has failed to attend the ceremony.
ADC said the president should have used the occasion to inspire the new officers and reassure the people of northern Nigeria of his commitment to their safety, especially communities in Zamfara and Katsina ravaged by insecurity.
“Instead, the Commander-in-Chief chose to travel to his beloved Lagos to commission the renovation of the National Arts Theatre,” the party stated, describing the move as a misplaced priority.
It questioned why the president was quick to declare a state of emergency over a political crisis in Rivers State but remained silent on the existential security crisis in Zamfara and Katsina, adding that such actions undermine his claim that all lives matter.
