Ahead of the 2027 general election, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has lamented the nation’s security crisis, stating that Nigerians now budget for kidnappers’ ransom the same way they plan for school fees.
The former Vice President decried the country’s deplorable security situation and accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of reckless borrowing while citizens sink deeper into hunger, fear, and despair.
In a statement issued from Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described it as shameful that government officials continue to speak casually about debt figures while public safety collapses.
“Across the country, farmers can no longer safely access their farmlands because vast territories have effectively fallen under the control of armed gangs and terrorists,” Atiku stated. “Food production has declined sharply because rural communities now live under constant threat of attacks, abductions, and killings.
“The inevitable result is what Nigerians are currently witnessing—astronomical food prices, widespread hunger, malnutrition, and rising anger among citizens abandoned by their own government.”
The ADC standard-bearer noted that traveling by road in many parts of Nigeria has become a “gamble with death,” leaving families praying routinely against midnight calls announcing the abduction of loved ones.
“Villages are sacked almost routinely, while those in power appear more concerned about image management than decisive action,” he said. “What exactly are Nigerians benefiting from all these loans if insecurity continues to spread and the economy continues to suffocate?”
Furthermore, Atiku accused the presidency of deploying propaganda to distract the public from the consequences of economic mismanagement, insisting that no amount of media spin can conceal the deep frustration across the country.
“It is both astonishing and insulting that at a time when millions of Nigerians can barely afford one meal a day… the Presidency is celebrating debt figures as though indebtedness itself were an economic achievement,” the statement continued.
“No nation becomes prosperous by borrowing to finance consumption, sustain wasteful government lifestyles, and paper over policy failures. Countries that borrow responsibly do so to expand productivity, create jobs, secure critical infrastructure, and improve the welfare of their citizens.”
Atiku concluded by asserting that citizens are tired of “statistical gymnastics” from government spokespersons and care only about tangible metrics: affordable food, safety for their children, business survival, and a promising future—all of which, he claimed, are becoming increasingly bleak under the current administration.
