The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has issued a stark ultimatum to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanding that he either urgently refocus his administration on resolving the nation’s mounting security and economic crises or relinquish his position. The opposition lawmakers warned that Nigeria is drifting towards a dangerous precipice, characterised by escalating insecurity, judicial controversies, and what they termed a troubling democratic regression with the 2027 general elections on the horizon.
Minority Leader Fred Agbedi articulated the caucus’s position during a press conference at the National Assembly in Abuja, where opposition legislators accused the presidency of prioritising political manoeuvring over pressing national emergencies. The call follows a harrowing wave of violence, including the recent mass abduction of schoolchildren in Borno and Oyo states who remain in captivity, the kidnapping of pupils in Kogi, and the tragic death of retired Major-General Abubakar Rabe, a former military spokesperson, while in a kidnappers’ den. Communities across Plateau, Kwara, Niger, Benue, Sokoto and Zamfara have endured relentless bandit attacks, resulting in widespread killings and the displacement of hundreds of residents. The nation’s top Muslim and Catholic leaders have also jointly expressed deep concern, urging the federal government to take immediate action to curb the persistent violence.
The lawmakers insisted that governance has been relegated behind political calculations, condemning the death of General Rabe, who was abducted alongside his wife along the Marabar Musawa–Kafinsoli road in Katsina State, as a national disgrace and a stark indictment of a failing state. Agbedi posed the poignant question of who could truly be safe if a retired army general is not secure within the nation’s borders. He accused the administration of lacking a coherent counter-insurgency strategy, allowing bandit groups to operate with increasing audacity across multiple regions. The caucus also decried the continued captivity of Oyo schoolchildren and their teachers, describing their only crime as attempting to attend school in Nigeria, and condemned the government’s response as woefully inadequate, characterising the situation as the normalisation of evil.
Beyond security, the Minority Caucus reacted fiercely to a recent Federal High Court judgment involving the Independent National Electoral Commission, alleging it was a deliberate ploy to weaken opposition parties through judicial chaos. Agbedi described the ruling, which ordered the deregistration of five opposition parties, as rascality taken too far and a calculated attempt to muscle legitimate opposition out of the 2027 presidential race, warning that they would not accept an election rigged before it begins. The lawmakers also highlighted the deteriorating economic conditions, citing rampant inflation, a collapsing naira, and rising poverty from Sokoto to Enugu and from Borno to Lagos, painting a picture of a nation consumed by hunger, killings and a collapse of hope. They accused the political leadership of being preoccupied with endorsement rallies and re-election strategies instead of governance, and demanded that President Tinubu suspend all 2027 political activities to declare a six-month National Security and Economic Recovery Plan.
The caucus called for an overhaul of the national security architecture, a coordinated rescue operation for the abducted Oyo schoolchildren, and a thorough investigation into the killing of General Rabe. They also sought the intervention of the Chief Justice of Nigeria to resolve conflicting court rulings involving political parties. In a related development, a former military governor of Kaduna State, Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, urged the president to prioritise national security, reminding him that the protection of citizens was the primary ideal that motivated officers who opposed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission disclosed that 390 people were killed and 202 others kidnapped across Nigeria in May 2026 alone, reflecting the deepening crisis.
Abuja Network News
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