The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has cautioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu against engaging in any undisclosed negotiations with terrorist groups, warning that such actions could worsen Nigeria’s already fragile security situation.
Addressing journalists after a closed-door meeting of party and coalition leaders at the ADC national secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the government must clarify the “unclear and disturbing process” that led to the recent release of abducted victims.
Abdullahi noted that while the party welcomed the freedom of several kidnap victims—including worshippers taken from Christ Apostolic Church, Oke-Isegun in Kwara State, and schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State—the circumstances surrounding their release raise serious questions.
“We strongly suspect that this administration is negotiating directly with insurgents,” he said. Abdullahi added that contradictory official statements indicate that “the Federal Government is not being transparent with Nigerians.”
He criticised remarks reportedly made by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, who suggested that kidnappers voluntarily came for peace talks or released their victims because government “asked them nicely.” Abdullahi described such explanations as irresponsible for a country struggling with widespread insecurity.
He questioned whether ransoms had been paid or deals struck with insurgents. “If bandits truly surrendered weapons, what stops them from buying new ones tomorrow and resuming attacks?” he asked.
The ADC warned that negotiating with armed groups could “strengthen the banditry economy,” pointing to a fresh kidnapping in Kwara State’s Ekiti Local Government where 11 people were abducted barely 24 hours after earlier victims regained freedom.
The party also condemned the closure of 47 federal unity schools due to escalating abductions, arguing that the move empowers terrorists. “By shutting down schools, the Tinubu administration is reinforcing the ideology Boko Haram stands for. It signals to the world that Nigeria cannot protect its own children,” Abdullahi stated.
He further criticised the government’s inability to present a clear and consistent figure of abducted schoolchildren in recent incidents, calling the discrepancy “a damning reflection of poor security coordination.”
The ADC urged the Federal Government to revive the Safe Schools Initiative, deploy more Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel to unity schools, and intensify efforts to rescue all abducted students.
Wednesday’s statement followed a strategy meeting attended by senior opposition figures, including ADC National Chairman Senator David Mark, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal, former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, former ADC chairman Dr. Ralph Nwosu, and Abdullahi.
The gathering is part of a broader effort to strengthen the opposition bloc after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar officially registered with the party earlier this week.
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