The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration for seeking a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, amidst prevailing insecurity in the country.

The party said Nigeria should not ask for additional global responsibilities when it could not protect the lives and property of its citizens at home.

In a statement on Sunday in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said it was absurd for the Tinubu administration to request the UN seat when bandits are killing Nigerians.

He said the party wondered “how a government that cannot ensure peace or security at home could demand a seat at the table where global security is negotiated and expect to be taken seriously.”

He added, “Only a few weeks ago, in the same Zamfara State, no fewer than 45 Nigerians were killed, with entire villages sacked and dozens abducted. This was after a similar attack in Katsina State had left about 47 dead and several more injured or taken hostage.”

The coalition said it alerted the public that armed gangs in Zamfara State had extorted over N56 million from farmers as a precondition to access their farmlands, adding that “with the level of brigandage going on in that state, we are compelled to ask whether Zamfara is still part of Nigeria. Because when non-state actors collect taxes, control access to farms, and kill with impunity, they are no longer mere criminals.”

The party said the situation is no longer about insecurity alone, “it is about the territorial integrity of Nigeria being willfully subverted. What is happening is not a mere failure of security. It is clear evidence of a government that has lost control. In any serious country, these situations would have triggered resignations, emergency meetings, and a strategic overhaul.”

It further added that Nigeria’s request for a Security Council seat would remain laughable until commitment is made on the side of the government to secure the lives of its people.

It said it would “remain laughable until our government demonstrates both the capacity and the willingness to secure the lives of her own people. Leadership on the global stage must begin with responsibility at home. You cannot be asking to be admitted into the club of those who take the lives of their citizens seriously.”

The party also queried President Tinubu’s absence at the passing-out parade and Presidential Commissioning of officers of the Nigerian Army at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna on Saturday.

The party recalled that, just like in 2024, the Commander-in-Chief misplaced his priorities, as he was once again missing in action, while 874 officers were commissioned into the nation’s military. (Daily Trust)