ABUJA, Nigeria — In a fierce assessment of the national security landscape, the Social Democratic Party presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has launched a blistering critique against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing him of failing in his foundational constitutional responsibility as the Commander-in-Chief to effectively lead the Nigerian Armed Forces. The opposition leader argued that the federal executive is actively neglecting the urgent defense needs of the populace, allowing widespread criminal networks to operate with relative impunity across multiple geopolitical zones.
Adebayo made these remarks while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s flagship political program, Politics Today. Throughout the broadcast interview, the legal practitioner turned politician expressed deep institutional sympathy for the challenges facing the federal government while firmly distancing his political movement from the activities of insurgents. However, he maintained that the administration’s handling of the rising tide of insecurity, mass killings, and rural kidnappings across the country represents a profound failure of political will and tactical oversight.
The Social Democratic Party standard-bearer accused President Tinubu of routinely neglecting core national security duties in favor of managing internal partisan politics and consolidating his grip on power ahead of future electoral cycles. He argued that the current administration has structurally compromised the focus of the country's defense apparatus by drawing senior intelligence officials away from their primary counter-terrorism mandates to assist the ruling party with domestic political maneuvers.
Addressing the national television audience, Adebayo stated that his primary sympathy remains with the government of his country, emphasizing that he supports the state and does not support terrorists under any circumstances. He noted that he has no intention of using the cruel exploits and media escapades of insurgent groups to judge the ultimate future or destiny of the Nigerian nation.
Nevertheless, the opposition candidate insisted that the current reality must be labeled accurately as a complete systemic failure. He asserted that President Tinubu, in his official capacity as the Commander-in-Chief, has failed woefully to lead the Armed Forces correctly or provide the necessary institutional inspiration required to defeat the asymmetric threats facing the territory. Furthermore, Adebayo alleged that the presidency has failed woefully to pay close, actionable attention to deep intelligence reports compiled by various state espionage agencies, a lapse that he claims has left numerous rural communities entirely vulnerable to sudden, coordinated attacks by armed bandits and localized militia groups.
The politician went on to characterize the sitting administration as being excessively slow, defensive, and reactive to urgent security challenges, claiming that the lack of prompt tactical deployment has directly exacerbated the suffering of ordinary citizens. He reiterated that the President is devoting an excessive amount of his valuable executive time to political networking and survival strategies, a habit that has inadvertently diverted the attention of senior national security advisers away from complex defense engineering toward helping the executive navigate local political disputes.
To substantiate his allegations of administrative lethargy and a lack of urgency, the Social Democratic Party candidate cited the federal government’s delayed response to a recent tragic security incident that occurred within Oyo State. Adebayo presented the management of that specific crisis as clear evidence of a disconnect between the political elite in Abuja and the painful realities being experienced by citizens on the ground.
He pointed out that while federal representatives eventually traveled to the affected community in Oyo State to commiserate with the traumatized population and assess the damage, his own opposition delegation had successfully visited the area to offer material and psychological solidarity long before the official government team arrived. He argued that since the ruling party holds the actual instruments of state power and controls the national treasury, it needs to exhibit a far greater degree of seriousness, operational speed, and administrative empathy than it is currently demonstrating to the public.
Adebayo’s latest public intervention aligns with his broader campaign strategy, which seeks to position the Social Democratic Party as a highly disciplined alternative to the current political establishment. He concluded his broadcast interview by warning that until the presidency completely insulates the national defense architecture from partisan interference and prioritizes the real-time processing of military intelligence, the country will continue to experience a severe gap between official security declarations and the lived security experiences of ordinary Nigerians.
