‘Shameful abdication of responsibility’ — ADC criticises FG for blaming Trump over rising insecurity

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised thefederal government for blaming recent attacks in Kebbi and Kwara states onremarks by US President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, George Akume, secretary to the government ofthe federation (SGF), said recent statements by Trump concerning the securitysituation in Nigeria have emboldened violent groups seeking to exploitinternational narratives to launch fresh attacks across the country. However, in a statement on Thursday, Bolaji Abdullahi,national publicity secretary of the ADC, said Akume’s comment was an attempt todeflect responsibility. Abdullahi said the party found it “appalling” that theAPC-led government suggested that insecurity in Nigeria was triggered by astatement made by a foreign president. He said the claim amounted to “a shameful abdication ofresponsibility” and a confirmation that President Bola Tinubu’s administrationis overwhelmed by the security crisis. The ADC spokesperson said Nigerians had endured massacres,mass abductions and attacks on schools and places of worship for years underthe APC-led government. Abdullahi said the situation has worsened under the currentadministration because of the “government’s failure to respond decisively”. “It is therefore disingenuous to blame one tweet for thestate of insecurity in Nigeria,” he said. “Those killing Nigerians did not need to be instigated byTrump; they were already actively encouraged by a government that consistentlyfails to act decisively to stop the carnage, a government that is, even afternearly three years in office, still celebrating its electoral victory while thecountry is turned into a killing field.” He questioned how a sovereign government could attribute thecollapse of its security system to a statement by a foreign leader. He asked whether the country is so vulnerable that “a socialmedia post from Washington” could destabilise it. “If indeed Mr Trump’s statement constitutes such a securitythreat, what has been the government’s evaluation of that threat, and whatmeasures have the government put in place to mitigate the potential threat thatcould emanate from it?” the ADC spokesman queried. “This is what any serious government would do. It would notjust wait for these opportunistic attacks to start shopping for who to blamefor its incompetence.” He said Nigerians are tired of the government’s refusal toaccept responsibility for the situation. The ADC spokesman said Nigeria was “under siege” because ofwhat he called domestic negligence and incompetence, not because of Trump’sremarks.

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