Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of losing control of his administration amid worsening insecurity across the country.
Adebayo made the allegation on Tuesday during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme monitored by the Nigerian Tribune. He argued that the relentless rise in kidnappings, killings and violent attacks suggests that the government is either overwhelmed or complicit.
According to him, Nigeria has the institutional capacity to tackle insecurity but lacks the political will and sincerity to deploy available tools effectively.
He said, “The government needs to come out and confess the truth that they are enabling this insecurity… You cannot commit a crime and last one week or one month if you don’t have government people cooperating with you.”
Adebayo also questioned how ransom payments continue to circulate freely despite strict banking regulations, urging President Tinubu to urgently reorganise Nigeria’s security architecture.
He said, “I cannot go now to the bank manager in my bank and say to them that I want to withdraw 6 million naira; they will not answer me EFCC, money laundering. But people are paying millions of naira in ransom.”
Adebayo warned that the ease with which criminal gangs move large sums and operate unhindered reflects a breakdown in governmental control.
“President Tinubu, in my own humble view, has lost control of his government… he needs to put his hands together, organise his government, and make sure that he understands that the police cover this country effectively,” he added.
The SDP chieftain noted that every local government in Nigeria has at least one police division capable of responding swiftly to threats. He questioned why these structures are not being fully utilised.
He asked, “Are you telling me that in Eruku, in Isapa and in all those places, there is no division there?… This is a government that could capture somebody in Nairobi, Kenya, and bring him here for trial, but they cannot capture people who are going around.”
Adebayo also expressed disbelief at how mass abductions continue to occur with ease, comparing the coordination of dozens of victims to the difficulty of managing a classroom of children.
“How do you go and carry hundreds of people? Have you been a nursery school teacher before? To get 35 children to cooperate with you in the class, is it easy?” he asked.
He called on President Tinubu to urgently overhaul the country’s security system, warning that the current structure cannot deliver the rapid response required to prevent attacks. Adebayo stressed the need for transparency, accountability and decisive leadership, insisting that Nigerians can no longer endure the prevailing climate of fear.
