The African Democratic Congress coalition party has joined the U.S. to knock President Bola Tinubu’s administration, claiming his lacklustre attitude towards insecurity has compounded the crisis, with an Al-Qaeda-backed terror group expanding reach to Kwara.
“Under this administration, terror and violence have expanded their reach— from the extreme east and west of the north to the central part. On October 31, 2025, the very day that President Trump announced his concern about Nigeria, another terror group, JNIM, an Al-Qaeda affiliate which had been active in the Sahel region, announced a successful attack in Kwara State, which serves as a gateway to the southern part of the country,” ADC said in a statement. “The crisis that we face is therefore not about any ethnic or religious group being targeted for killing an existential crisis that imperils all Nigerians.”
The coalition said thousands of Nigerians had so far died from insurgency and violent activities since Mr Tinubu assumed office in 2023.
President Donald Trump’s threat to invade Nigeria with the U.S. military on Friday roiled Aso Rock as Mr Tinubu, cabinet members, and supporters scrambled to downplay the insecurity crisis that has long assailed the nation as not necessarily targeted at Christians.
The president’s lackeys, such as FCT minister Nyesom Wike and Femi Fani-Kayode, have sided with their principal in firing scathing shots at Mr Trump for meddling in matters they said were not his concern.
ADC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi, on Monday, asserted that not only was Mr Tinubu’s administration full of excuses but that it also succeeded in raising the death toll of Nigerians killed by insurgents and violence to 15,000 in just over two years of becoming president, pointing out that entire communities and “worshippers have been slaughtered in religious spaces”.
“Available reports indicate that nearly 15,000 lives have been lost to sundry violent activities since this administration assumed office in 2023,” the new coalition asserted, adding that the “deaths occurred across regions and religions.”
Although ADC noted that Mr Tinubu inherited a nation battered by insurgency and violence, the coalition condemned Mr Tinubu’s incompetence and refusal to acknowledge that the crisis had ballooned under his watch, citing his barrage of excuses.
“The problem of insecurity in Nigeria did not start with President Tinubu,” The ADC stated. “The problem is that President Tinubu has refused to acknowledge that the crisis has got worse under his watch.”
The coalition said that Mr Tinubu’s mishandling of the existential crisis has made Nigeria conducive for terrorists, with the emergence of JNIM (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin) launching its first-ever attack on Nigerian soil and soldiers. The insurgent group was known for its operations in Mali and Burkina Faso.
JNIM, a group backed by Al-Qaeda, made a boast of unleashing carnage that killed a Nigerian soldier on Friday— the same day Mr Trump accused Mr Tinubu’s administration of allowing Islamic terrorists to kill Christians in targeted attacks.
Mr Tinubu denied the allegation, asserting that Nigerians of different ethnicities and religions were victims of insecurity and that his administration was doing its best to root out the culprits. But the president’s words have so far done little to inspire confidence, as the majority of Nigerians said.
ADC recommended an overhaul of the national security apparatus to include an “independent audit of operations, leadership, and strategy”.
Cautioning that the potential mobilisation of U.S. troops to invade the country would harm the nation’s democracy, the ADC urged the American government to assist Nigeria in building capacity to solve its own problems.
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