ADC Cautions Tinubu Against Secret Talks with Bandits

 

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu against engaging in covert negotiations with bandit groups, saying such actions risk deepening Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.

Speaking after a closed-door session of party and coalition leaders at the ADC national headquarters in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the Federal Government must come clean on the circumstances surrounding the release of several abducted victims in recent weeks.

Abdullahi commended the return of worshippers kidnapped from the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke-Isegun in Kwara State, as well as schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga in Kebbi State. But he faulted what he described as the “opaque and troubling” process that led to their freedom.

According to him, conflicting official accounts suggest that the government is concealing key details from Nigerians.

“We strongly believe this administration is entering into deals with insurgents,” he said, dismissing statements credited to presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga which implied that kidnappers “voluntarily” submitted to peace talks or freed victims out of goodwill.

The ADC spokesman questioned whether ransom payments or other concessions were exchanged and wondered what prevented the armed groups from rearming after allegedly surrendering weapons.

The party noted that barely 24 hours after one group released captives, gunmen returned to Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State to abduct 11 more residents—an indication, it said, that banditry has become an expanding criminal economy.

The ADC also condemned the recent shutdown of 47 unity schools over escalating abductions, warning that the move projected weakness and aligned with the ideology of Boko Haram.

“By closing schools, the Federal Government is indirectly affirming Boko Haram’s doctrine. It signals an inability to protect Nigeria’s children,” Abdullahi said.

He criticised the government for failing to provide a clear figure of students seized in recent attacks, calling the confusion a “damning indictment” of its crisis management.

The party urged the Federal Government to revive the Safe Schools Initiative, deploy NSCDC operatives to vulnerable schools, and intensify efforts to secure the release of all abducted pupils.

Wednesday’s meeting was attended by several coalition figures, including ADC National Chairman Senator David Mark, former SGF Babachir Lawal, ex-Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi, ex-ADC chairman Ralph Nwosu, and Abdullahi.

The gathering is part of broader efforts to strengthen a united opposition front following former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s formal registration as an ADC member on Monday.