The Presidency has responded to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, asserting that he lacks the credibility to criticise President Bola Tinubu over the worsening security situation in the country.
Speaking at an event in Jos, Plateau State, on Friday, Obasanjo expressed his deep concern over the escalating insecurity in the country. He suggested that Nigerians have a right to seek foreign intervention, given what he described as the government’s failure to adequately protect its citizens.
However, the government alleged that terrorism began to take root under Obasanjo’s administration, suggesting that the current security challenges are a legacy of his time in office.
The Presidency also condemned Obasanjo for his suggestion that President Tinubu should turn to foreign countries for help if he fails to tackle Nigeria’s security problems.
It called such a proposal an abdication of responsibility, emphasizing that advocating for external intervention in the nation’s internal affairs is not a sign of true leadership.
These remarks were shared in a post by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, on his verified X account.
Taking aim at Obasanjo, the Presidency stated that before recommending the surrender of Nigeria’s sovereignty to foreign nations, the former President should reconsider his failure to act when terrorism began to take hold during his time in office.
“Recent comments by a former President and a few habitual presidential aspirants attempting to paint the Tinubu administration as ‘unable to protect Nigerians’ are not merely hypocritical but ignoble. They ignore the hard truth: Nigeria is facing terrorists. All of them. By every definition, be they international, regional, or local.
“Yet the very individuals who looked away when these threats first sprouted now want to sit in judgment. Nigerians know better.
“The suggestion that Nigeria should effectively subcontract its internal security to foreign governments is not statesmanship; it is capitulation. Before recommending surrender, the former President should reflect on what he failed to do when these terrorists first began organising under his watch,” the statement said.
It accused Obasanjo’s administration of allowing terrorism to take root by failing to take early action.
It stated, “It is a historical fact that the ideological seeds and early cells of Boko Haram were nurtured during Obasanjo’s civilian presidency. As they recruited, indoctrinated, established camps, and openly challenged authority, the state failed to act with the necessary urgency.”
“What began as a preventable extremist sect transformed into: A violent insurgency; A cross-border terrorist franchise; A regional menace aligned with global jihadist movements.
“For the leader under whom the first seeds of terrorism were allowed to germinate to now issue public lectures is not just ironic, it is reckless.”
