The Presidency has rebuked former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his recent comments on Nigeria’s security crisis, insisting that he lacks the moral standing to criticise President Bola Tinubu’s handling of national security.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, issued the rebuttal on Sunday via his verified X account. Dare accused Obasanjo of overlooking his own failures while calling on Tinubu to seek foreign assistance to curb insecurity.
Obasanjo had recently suggested that the Federal Government should consider outsourcing aspects of Nigeria’s internal security to foreign nations if it cannot effectively manage the escalating violence. The Presidency described the proposal as reckless and unbecoming of a former leader.
According to Dare, terrorism began to take shape during Obasanjo’s tenure, yet the former president is now “sitting in judgment” over an issue he allegedly failed to confront.
“This administration will not be distracted by selective amnesia wrapped in elder-statesmanship, nor allow those who midwifed Nigeria’s early security failures to rewrite history,” Dare wrote.
He argued that attempts by Obasanjo and “habitual presidential aspirants” to portray the Tinubu administration as incapable of protecting citizens ignore the reality that Nigeria is currently battling multiple fronts of terrorism—international, regional, and homegrown.
“The suggestion that Nigeria should effectively subcontract its internal security to foreign governments is not statesmanship; it is capitulation,” he added.
Dare urged Obasanjo to reflect on his own record before offering what he described as unhelpful counsel on national security.
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