Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has renewed his criticism of the Federal Government’s handling of insecurity, saying President Bola Tinubu has not shown sufficient political will to confront the country’s growing security challenges.

Speaking on Tuesday in Kano at the unveiling of a 2,000-strong Neighbourhood Security Network by the Kano State Government, Kwankwaso said the scale of violence across Nigeria requires firmer leadership from the centre, urging President Tinubu to “rise to the occasion” and fully assume his role as Commander-in-Chief by decisively addressing insecurity.

Kwankwaso, a former defence minister and two-term governor of Kano State, argued that Nigeria’s armed forces remain capable and professional, citing their past engagements in international peacekeeping missions in places such as Liberia and Sudan’s Darfur region.

According to him, the problem lies not with the military’s competence, but with what he described as inadequate political backing and support from the government.

He lamented the continued loss of lives across the country, claiming that many perpetrators of violent crimes operate with little consequence, arguing that the Federal Government owed Nigerians an apology for what he termed its lax response to the security crisis, stressing that any administration that fails to protect lives and property has “failed in its primary responsibility.”

Positioning his remarks within his broader political outlook, the NNPP national leader reiterated proposals he has floated in recent months, including a significant expansion of the nation’s security architecture.

Kwankwaso also called for closer collaboration between federal security agencies and state-backed initiatives, pointing to the Kano Neighborhood Security Network as a model that could complement the military and other federal forces. Integrating such community-based outfits, he argued, would boost morale, improve intelligence gathering at the grassroots, and help change the current security narrative.

The comments align with Kwankwaso’s recent public interventions, in which he has consistently framed insecurity as Nigeria’s most pressing challenge and criticised what he sees as a lack of urgency from the Federal Government. As political actors begin to position themselves ahead of the 2027 elections, security is increasingly emerging as a central theme In opposition critiques of the Tinubu administration. (BusinessDay)