Adewole Adebayo, presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 election, says President Bola Tinubu’s security chiefs lack the competence to address Nigeria’s security challenges.
Adebayo spoke on Sunday in Abuja at the 50th birthday celebration of his wife, Queen Lilian Adebayo.
He said Nigerians should not be surprised by the economic and security challenges facing the country, arguing that those in power were never serious about governance.
His words: “We knew this was how they would behave. What shocks me about Nigerians is that they are shocked about Tinubu because we knew that these people don’t take governance seriously.”
“They take elections seriously, but not governance. The first duty of a president is to be commander-in-chief. The first order of business of government is national security, then the welfare of the people, justice, development and infrastructure. So it’s a disappointment.”
Adebayo said while he ordinarily refrains from politicising insecurity, the situation under the Tinubu administration is too glaring to ignore.
He said: “I personally do not like to politicise insecurity because when there is an act of insecurity and you criticise the government in a way that can encourage terrorists and other criminals to think that they can influence our politics by committing more atrocities, that’s not helpful.
“But in this case, the incompetence of President Tinubu and his security team speaks for itself.”
On the president’s recent trip abroad, Adebayo said a “serious-minded” leader would have returned to the country to address pressing national issues.
“The president should look at the security architecture of the country and look at governance with more seriousness,” he said.
