The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has alleged that the worsening insecurity in the country is being sponsored by enemies of President Bola Tinubu who do not want Nigeria’s democracy to succeed.
Mr Akpabio made the remarks in Abuja on Saturday at the public presentation of three books in honour of former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar as part of activities marking his 84th birthday. One of the books is Mr Abubakar’s autobiography.
Mr Abubakar, a retired army general, became Nigeria’s Head of State in June 1998 after the death of Sani Abacha, who had ruled the country from 1993 until he died in 1998.
Less than a year after assuming office, he successfully supervised a transition programme that culminated in the handover of power to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on 29 May 1999. The transition ushered in Nigeria’s current democratic dispensation, which has been uninterrupted for more than two decades.
After he retired from public office, Mr Abubakar transitioned into an elder statesman and diplomat, serving in various mediation and peace-building roles across Africa, including assignments for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
He currently chairs Nigeria’s National Peace Committee, which facilitates peace accords among political actors during election periods and promotes peaceful conduct before, during, and after elections.
At the event, Mr Akpabio praised the former Nigerian leader’s contributions to democracy and assured him that the current administration and security agencies are working to address the country’s security challenges.
“I must say that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is grappling with a lot of enemies of progress, of what you left behind. Today, many are sponsoring insecurity in our country, to paint our democracy in a bad colour. But I can tell you that with the determination of men and women in uniform, that the enemies we see today, we shall see them no more,” he said.
Mr Akpabio also expressed confidence that the government would overcome both terrorism and poverty.
“You can imagine in a country where a child will stand up to kill the father because of Tramadol and because of all sorts of… I don’t know how to put it. But I can tell you, no matter the insecurity we see today, with men like you, the example you have left behind, we will definitely defeat terrorism. We will defeat poverty in this country. And Nigeria will take its rightful place in the global community.”
The senate president noted that members of the National Assembly are beneficiaries of the democratic foundation laid by Mr Abubakar and assured him that his contributions to the country would not be forgotten.
Mr Akpabio’s comments come at a time when Nigeria’s security situation is worsening, despite repeated assurances by President Tinubu that his administration is making progress in tackling insecurity.
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Since Mr Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, several parts of the country have continued to witness attacks by armed groups, including terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and violent criminal gangs. The violence has been particularly severe in Benue, Plateau, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Borno and parts of the North-central region.
The global human rights organisation, Amnesty International, said in a report released in May 2025 that at least 10,217 people were killed in attacks by armed groups during the first two years of the Tinubu administration.
According to the organisation, Benue and Plateau states recorded the highest casualties during the period. Amnesty also reported that hundreds of communities were displaced and several villages overrun by armed groups.
Kidnapping for ransom has also remained a major challenge. A report by SBM Intelligence documented 4,722 abductions across Nigeria between July 2024 and June 2025, with families and communities paying at least N2.57 billion in ransom to secure the release of victims. The report described kidnapping as an increasingly lucrative criminal enterprise fuelled by weak law enforcement and economic hardship.
Several mass abductions have occurred under the current administration, including attacks on schools, highways, and rural communities. Farmers in many parts of the country have also complained of being unable to access their farmlands due to persistent attacks by bandits and armed groups.
