The African Democratic Congress coalition party has joined the United States in criticizing President Bola Tinubu’s administration, arguing that his indifferent approach toward insecurity has exacerbated the situation, with a terror cell backed by Al-Qaeda extending its reach to Kwara.
“Under this regime, terror and violence have spread from the far east and west of the north to the core region. Another terror group, JNIM, an Al-Qaeda affiliate that 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, on October 31, 2025, the same day that President Trump expressed his concern about Nigeria, according to an ADC statement. “There is an existential crisis that threatens all Nigerians, and it has nothing to do with any ethnic or religious group being singled out for murder.”
According to the coalition, since Mr. Tinubu took power in 2023, thousands of Nigerians have perished as a result of insurgency and violent acts.
Aso Rock was rocked by President Donald Trump’s warning on Friday to use the U.S. military to invade Nigeria, as Mr. Tinubu, cabinet members, and supporters hurried to minimize the country’s long-running insecurity crisis as not necessarily directed at Christians.
FCT minister Nyesom Wike and Femi Fani-Kayode, two of the president’s aides, have joined with their leader in criticizing Mr. Trump for interfering in issues they claim are unrelated to him.
Bolaji Abdullahi, the spokesperson for the ADC, claimed on Monday that not only was Mr. Tinubu’s administration full of justifications, but it also managed to increase the number of Nigerians killed by violence and insurgents to 15,000 in just over two years since he took office. He noted that entire communities and “worshippers have been slaughtered in religious spaces.”
The new coalition said that since this administration took office in 2023, “available reports indicate that nearly 15,000 lives have been lost to sundry violent activities,” noting that the “deaths occurred across regions and religions.”
The coalition denounced Mr. Tinubu’s incapacity and refusal to admit that the problem had escalated under his leadership, noting his litany of justifications, even though ADC acknowledged that Mr. Tinubu inherited a country devastated by insurgency and violence.
The ADC declared, “President Tinubu was not the origin of Nigeria’s insecurity issue.” “The issue is that President Tinubu has refused to admit that the situation has worsened while he has been in office.”
According to the coalition, JNIM (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin) launched its first offensive against Nigerian soldiers and territory as a result of Mr. Tinubu’s poor management of the country’s existential issue. The rebel organization was well-known for its activities in Burkina Faso and Mali.
The same day that Mr. Trump accused Mr. Tinubu’s administration of permitting Islamic terrorists to kill Christians in targeted attacks, JNIM, a group supported by Al-Qaeda, boasted of unleashing devastation that killed a Nigerian soldier on Friday.
Mr. Tinubu refuted the accusation, claiming that his administration was making every effort to find the offenders and that Nigerians of all races and religions were victims of insecurity. But the president’s remarks have so far done little to inspire confidence, as the majority of Nigerians said
An “independent audit of operations, leadership, and strategy” is one of the changes that ADC suggested be made to the national security apparatus.
The ADC asked the US government to help Nigeria develop the capacity to address its own issues, warning that the possible mobilization of US troops to invade the country would be detrimental to the country’s democracy.
