The security situation in Nigeria has become a major political flashpoint ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with the Presidency and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar trading sharply different accounts of the government’s performance in tackling terrorism, kidnapping and banditry.
While Atiku has cited the reported killing of 5,091 Nigerians in violent incidents over a three-month period as evidence of the failure of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, the Presidency has countered that the same period witnessed major security gains, including the killing of thousands of terrorists and the rescue of more than 10,000 Nigerians.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, had described the reported death toll as a damning indictment of the administration, arguing that protecting lives and property remained the government’s most fundamental responsibility.
In a statement issued through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the reported deaths represented thousands of families plunged into mourning and communities living in fear.
He also blamed what he described as fiscal indiscipline, wasteful expenditure and poor implementation of security budgets for the continued vulnerability of Nigerians.
According to him, troops require more than improved salaries to effectively confront terrorism and other violent crimes, stressing the need for adequate equipment, operational funding, timely allowances and improved welfare.
The Presidency, however, rejected Atiku’s assessment, accusing him of presenting a one-sided picture of Nigeria’s security situation for political purposes.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said official figures showed that security agencies had killed between 13,000 and 20,000 terrorists during the period under review.
He added that at least 10,000 Nigerians had been rescued from captivity through operations conducted by the military, police and Department of State Services.
Ajayi questioned why Atiku had failed to acknowledge the rescue operations while focusing on reported deaths.
He cited the recent rescue of 308 Nigerians abducted in Kwara and Niger states as one of the latest examples of coordinated security operations.
The Presidential aide said security agencies were also arresting terrorists, disrupting their logistics networks and targeting informants and suppliers.
He accused Atiku of pursuing what he described as “politics of despair” by concentrating on negative security statistics while ignoring what he called measurable progress by the security forces.
The disagreement has also drawn a response from the police, with Force spokesperson Ani Iniedu disputing the former Vice President’s interpretation of the security data.
Iniedu said available security intelligence indicated that violent crime had “drastically reduced” over the past six months, urging Nigerians to consider broader security analytics rather than isolated figures.
The Federal Government has continued to point to recent operations as evidence that its security strategy is producing results. These include the rescue of Oyo schoolchildren and teachers after 56 days in captivity and the recovery of 308 abducted Nigerians in Kwara and Niger states.
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President Tinubu subsequently directed security agencies to strengthen early-warning mechanisms and community-level intelligence gathering to prevent mass abductions.
For Atiku, however, the security situation remains a critical measure of the administration’s performance. He argued that the scale of reported killings cannot be dismissed by citing successes in other areas.
The latest exchange underscores how security is likely to dominate the political contest ahead of 2027, with the opposition expected to make insecurity a central campaign issue while the Tinubu administration highlights military offensives, arrests and rescue operations as evidence of progress.
With both sides relying on competing statistics to support their positions, the credibility, methodology and scope of the security data being cited are likely to come under greater scrutiny as the 2027 election approaches.
