ABUJA, Nigeria — The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s call for Nigeria to secure a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, describing the move as “absurd” given the country’s deepening security crisis.
In a statement issued on Sunday, September 28, 2025, by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party argued that the government should focus on safeguarding Nigerian lives before seeking global responsibilities.
“It is shocking that the Tinubu administration is asking for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council while bandits are slaughtering Nigerians and taking over parts of the country,” the statement read.
“How can a government that cannot provide peace or security at home expect to be taken seriously at the global table where security is discussed?”
The ADC pointed to a string of violent attacks in Zamfara and Katsina States in recent months, including the killing of worshippers at a mosque in Yandoto village on Friday, September 26, 2025.
The party said more than 140 people had been murdered in Zamfara and Katsina in just two months, citing Amnesty International figures that over 10,000 Nigerians had died since May in assaults by armed groups.
“These are not statistics; they are human beings,” the ADC said.
“What we see today is not simply a security lapse, but clear evidence, written in blood and innocent lives lost, of a government that has lost control.”
The party also accused bandits in Zamfara of acting as “a parallel authority” by levying farmers over N56 million to access their farmlands.
The ADC condemned Tinubu for missing the commissioning of 874 new officers at the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna for a second consecutive year, instead attending the inauguration of the renovated National Arts Theatre in Lagos.
“At a time of worsening insecurity, the President should have inspired officers and reassured northern communities under attack,” the party said.
“Instead, he chose a misplaced priority.”
It added that Tinubu’s response to insecurity risked creating “the dangerous perception that some Nigerian lives matter less than others,” noting that he had declared a state of emergency in Rivers State over political tensions while remaining “silent on the killings in Zamfara and Katsina.”
The party reiterated its demand for a state of emergency in Zamfara to halt the bloodshed.
“The world is not fooled by fine speeches in New York,” it said.
“True leadership on the world stage must begin with responsibility at home, yet the country remains soaked in blood while promises of protection go unfulfilled.”
