Yan Nigeria
A former presidential aide and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Babafemi Ojudu, has raised the alarm over Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
Naija News reports that Ojudu warned that the crisis poses a serious threat to democracy and the 2027 general elections if left unaddressed.
Speaking on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief” on Tuesday, Ojudu expressed frustration over the federal government’s lacklustre response to attacks and killings across several regions, urging President Bola Tinubu to urgently “sit up” and issue a coordinated security directive to military and intelligence agencies.
He said, “This is a serious challenge to the existence of this country. The President must sit up.
“The security situation is worrisome, and I’m not happy with the way it’s being handled. It’s being treated as if it’s a skirmish between two policemen or some bad boys on the street.”
Citing fresh violence in Benue, Plateau, and Kogi States, the former lawmaker from Ekiti Central decried the surge in banditry and killings, particularly across the North-Central and North-West regions.
“You go to the North-Central, the North-East, the North-West, even places as close to Yorubaland as Kogi and Kwara—bandits are already on the rampage,” he said.
He criticised what he described as theatrics and half-measures, warning that government-organised community meetings and symbolic gestures will not bring the required change.
“All these palliatives about going to a hall in Benue State to talk to people or crack jokes is not the solution,” Ojudu said.
Ojudu demanded a clear “marching order” from the President to military and security chiefs, urging a unified master plan involving the police, army, navy, air force, and intelligence units.
“He should hand a marching order to military officials, police hierarchy, the army, navy, air force, and intelligence agencies to come together and come up with a master plan to quickly solve these problems,” he said.
‘Insecurity Could Undermine 2027 Elections’
The APC stalwart warned that if the current trend of insecurity continues, the 2027 elections could be compromised or hijacked.
Ojudu said, “If these things continue until the election, we don’t know what use those people [violent actors] might be put to. That, in itself, threatens the very fabric of our society.
“The way things are going, people being slaughtered, kidnapped, it’s not by sitting in Abuja and pretending all is well. Something has to be done.”
In a rare moment of candour, Ojudu cautioned that failure to act could push the country back to military rule, urging Tinubu to heed the warning signs.
He said, “His advisers should tell him plainly. If he doesn’t, it will threaten democracy. We don’t want to go back to a military era. We don’t want to start running into exile or being jailed.
“Let him quickly solve this problem before it destroys our democracy.”
Responding to recent comments by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, on the flaws in Nigeria’s over-centralised system, Ojudu echoed the concerns and took a jab at the administration’s centralist approach.
“My surprise is that knowing President Tinubu to be a believer in restructuring, the way things are being run now, it seems power is being further consolidated at the federal level,” he noted.
He questioned the proliferation of federal commissions, describing them as counterproductive to true federalism.
“Development commissions are springing up everywhere. We don’t need all of these. Instead, we are again putting more power in the hands of the federal government,” Ojudu concluded
The post Insecurity Could Derail Nigeria’s Democracy – Ojudu Warns Tinubu appeared first on Naija News.
