The African Democratic Congress has sharply criticised the Federal Government for attributing recent terrorist attacks in Kebbi and Kwara States to remarks made by former United States President Donald Trump, labelling the claim a “desperate attempt to dodge accountability.”
In a statement released on Thursday, the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Bolaji Abdullahi, said the comments by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, represented a “shameful abdication of responsibility.”
“We find it quite appalling that the APC-led Federal Government claims its security failures are caused by a tweet by the president of another country. This is a shameful abdication of responsibility, a confirmation that the Tinubu government is overwhelmed by the security situation in the country and is clueless about how to go about solving it,” the party stated.
The opposition party’s rebuke follows Senator Akume’s reaction to a comment from President Trump on 31st October, which designated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” over alleged persecution of Christians. President Trump had warned that Washington could deploy American forces and suspend assistance if the administration failed to curb the attacks.
In his response, Akume argued that insurgent networks, which he said had been “significantly degraded,” were now attempting to leverage Trump’s comments “to gain visibility” and justify new attacks.
The ADC, however, dismissed this reasoning, contending that Nigerians have endured escalating insecurity for years.
“It is therefore disingenuous to blame one tweet for the state of insecurity in Nigeria. Those killing Nigerians did not need to be instigated by Trump. They were already actively encouraged by a government that consistently fails to act decisively to stop the carnage,” the party’s statement read.
The party further questioned the logic of a sovereign government blaming its internal security collapse on the words of a foreign leader.
Abdullahi argued that if Trump’s statement truly posed a serious threat, a competent government would have produced a formal security assessment and outlined concrete mitigation measures.
“This is what any serious government would do. It would not just wait for these opportunistic attacks to start shopping for who to blame for its incompetence,” he said.
“Nigerians are tired of this government’s mentality and approach to tackling this problem of insecurity. But how can a government that is incapable of accepting responsibility be trusted to find a solution?”
The ADC’s statement concluded by insisting that the nation’s security challenges are rooted in domestic failures and require decisive local action, not the attribution of blame abroad.
