Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, national chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), has described as “pathetic” President Bola Tinubu’s suggestion that political opponents may be exploiting the country’s security challenges for political advantage.
Speaking in an interview with Symfoni TV, the former spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum said the president should take decisive action against anyone found to be worsening insecurity rather than blaming political enemies.
“The second part of the question about blaming politicians, again, is pathetic,” he said.
“This is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the entire array of access to information. If you know a politician in this country who is using insecurity to undermine you, why don’t you move against them?”
Baba-Ahmed said it would be irresponsible for the president to claim political opponents were contributing to insecurity without taking action against them if credible evidence exists.
“If he’s saying that because he has evidence, then it is irresponsible not to move against those people. Enemies or not enemies, any Nigerian who is compounding our insecurity is an enemy of the people and it is the responsibility of this administration to deal with it,” he said.
WORSENING INSECURITY
The former presidential adviser also expressed concern about the country’s deteriorating security situation, saying the capacity of the military to protect Nigerians appears to be diminishing.
While noting that he had no evidence to support claims that elements within the military are colluding with criminal groups, Baba-Ahmed said the armed forces appear increasingly unable to contain insurgents, bandits and other armed groups.
“What I do have evidence for is that increasingly the capacity of our military to secure this country is diminishing,” he said.
“Our military is under-equipped, under-resourced and morale is low. The enemy, on the other hand, has high morale, they are well-equipped, they have good intelligence and are capable of fighting our military successfully sometimes.”
He added that the resurgence of insecurity in parts of the north-east, north-west and north-central regions should be a source of serious concern for the government.
