The Labour Party’s 2023 vice-presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has taken aim at President Bola Tinubu’s nationwide security emergency, arguing that the administration is addressing symptoms rather than the root causes of Nigeria’s escalating insecurity.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News on Thursday, Baba-Ahmed said the Federal Government’s decision to embark on massive recruitment into security agencies reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the crisis.
President Tinubu recently declared a national security emergency as banditry, kidnappings and rural attacks surge across several states. As part of the new directives, the Armed Forces and the Nigeria Police Force were ordered to recruit thousands of additional personnel, including 20,000 new police officers, to bolster counter-terrorism and public safety operations.
But Baba-Ahmed dismissed the approach as superficial, insisting that manpower is not Nigeria’s primary challenge.
According to him, insecurity persists because corruption and political interference continue to compromise the country’s security institutions.
“It’s not about increasing personnel. The real issue is corruption within the security architecture. How much of the security budget is actually used to fight insecurity? How much ends up in private pockets or for political purposes? That is the problem,” he said.
He argued that a reformed, corruption-free and professionally empowered police force could tackle banditry and terrorism decisively.
“If you remove corruption and political interests, the Nigerian police can wipe out insecurity in two months,” he claimed.
Baba-Ahmed also criticised President Tinubu’s advisory urging state governments to reconsider building boarding schools in remote or poorly secured areas—an advice issued amid recent mass abductions of students and teachers in Niger, Kebbi and other states.
Calling the directive “dangerous,” he warned that discouraging school development in rural communities would embolden criminals and undermine national progress.
“Discouraging education in vulnerable communities is wrong. We should be expanding access, not reducing it,” he said, noting that educators in high-risk areas are already under immense pressure.
His remarks come at a time of heightened public concern following renewed mass kidnappings, persistent bandit attacks and debates over the government’s evolving security strategy.
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