Labour Party slams Tinubu over insecurity, urging action or resignation amid rising deaths despite record defence budgets
Labour Party slams Tinubu over insecurity and demands that he either takes decisive action to secure Nigerian lives or step down from office.
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This call was issued by the party’s Interim National Working Committee, led by Senator Nenadi Usman, during a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
Interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, accused President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of failing in their constitutional duty to protect citizens, despite massive increases in security spending.
“If President Tinubu cannot deliver this, he should sack Nuhu Ribadu, reconfigure the armed services, step up his security governance—or do Nigerians a patriotic favour by sacking himself,” Akeni stated.
Akeni painted a grim picture of Nigeria’s security situation, citing that over 101,000 Nigerians have died in terrorist attacks, kidnappings, police brutality, and violent crimes between 2006 and 2021—averaging 57 deaths daily.
Despite this, defence spending has skyrocketed. Under Buhari’s APC-led administration, $9.9 billion was spent on security between 2016 and 2022.
Tinubu raised the 2025 defence budget to an unprecedented ₦6.57 trillion, while the Nigeria Police budget hit ₦969.6 billion.
“More budgets, more insecurity,” Akeni noted. “There is a direct contradiction between the rising security funds and the level of safety Nigerians experience.”
The LP spokesman criticized APC and PDP alike, accusing both of diverting security funds into private luxury projects rather than safeguarding Nigerians.
He cited recent tragedies, including the mosque massacre in Katsina, where 30 worshippers were gunned down and over 20 others burned alive in Malumfashi.
“APC has become a government of condolence delegations,” Akeni remarked.
The Labour Party described the killings as a national disgrace, warning that the government’s continued failure to protect citizens was eroding confidence in the state and emboldening criminal elements.
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It expressed condolences to the victims’ families and the Acting Governor of Katsina, Alhaji Faruk Lawal Jobe, calling the violence “another tragic reminder of state failure.”
