Minority Caucus Demands Six-Month National Security and Economic Emergency, Accuses Government of Prioritising 2027 Politics Over Citizens’ LivesThe Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has issued a strong ultimatum to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu: urgently refocus governance on tackling Nigeria’s worsening security crisis and economic hardship, or step aside.
The opposition lawmakers warned that the country is sliding deeper into insecurity, judicial controversy, and democratic backsliding as the 2027 general elections approach. They demanded that the President immediately suspend all political activities related to his re-election bid and declare a six-month National Security and Economic Recovery Plan.
Minority Leader Fred Agbedi made the position known during a press conference by opposition lawmakers at the National Assembly in Abuja. He accused the Tinubu administration of placing politics above urgent national challenges.
“President Tinubu must suspend all 2027 political activities and declare a six-month National Security and Economic Recovery Plan. Lead or leave. Nigeria is bleeding. Nigeria is confused. And Nigeria is being deliberately pushed to the brink by a government that has elevated 2027 electioneering above the lives and welfare of citizens,” Agbedi said.
The fresh pressure from the opposition comes amid a surge in violent incidents across the country, including the mass abduction of schoolchildren in Borno and Oyo states — many of whom remain in captivity — as well as the kidnapping of pupils in Kogi State.
The tragic death of retired Major-General Abubakar Rabe in kidnappers’ custody has further heightened national outrage.Communities in Plateau, Kwara, Niger, Benue, Sokoto, and Zamfara have also suffered repeated bandit attacks, resulting in killings and mass displacement of residents.
The Minority Caucus described the kidnapping and death of the retired General, who was abducted along with his wife on the Marabar Musawa–Kafinsoli road in Katsina State, as a “national disgrace” and a damning indictment of the government’s failure to secure the nation.
“That a General of the Nigerian Army, who once commanded troops and defended this nation, could be kidnapped alongside his wife and later declared dead under unclear circumstances is a grave indictment of a failed state,” Agbedi said.
“If a General is not safe within the borders of our nation, then who truly is?”The lawmakers criticised the absence of a clear, effective counter-insurgency strategy, noting that bandit groups are operating with increasing audacity. They also expressed deep concern over the continued captivity of abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State.
“As we speak, school children and their teachers abducted in Oyo State remain in captivity. Their crime? Going to school in Nigeria,” Agbedi lamented. “This is the new normal under this administration: mass abductions without consequences, terrorists dictating terms, and a government that issues statements instead of results.”
The opposition’s position aligns with recent calls by prominent religious leaders. On Tuesday, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria both urged the federal government to take decisive action to stem the tide of killings, kidnappings, and violent crimes.
The Minority Caucus insisted that governance has taken a backseat to political calculations, leaving ordinary Nigerians exposed and the nation’s future at risk.“Each hour these children spend with terrorists is an hour stolen from Nigeria’s future,” they warned.
