ADC seizes on Yari's security remark to question APC's 2027 bid
- The ADC campaign council says Senator Abdulaziz Yari's remark on insecurity admits the APC has no answers.
- Yari reportedly asked what President Tinubu can do if Buhari could not end insecurity.
- The opposition says voters should weigh the APC's security record before the 2027 election.
The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has seized on a remark by Senator Abdulaziz Yari, the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, to argue that the ruling party has run out of answers on insecurity.
Yari, according to the reports, spoke on Monday while meeting stakeholders in Kebbi State. He was quoted as asking what President Bola Tinubu could do about insecurity when former President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired military officer, could not wipe it out.
The ADC-PCC, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the comment amounted to an admission from the ruling party's own campaign chief.
What the opposition is saying
Ologbondiyan argued that a party in power for close to 12 years should not be telling Nigerians that the problem is beyond its candidate. He said the remark strengthens the feeling that the APC has no fresh ideas for banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and killings.
He asked how the APC could seek another four years when, in his words, its campaign leadership is casting doubt on the candidate's ability to protect citizens.
This is not the language of a party offering hope; it is an expression of helplessness from a party seeking another mandate.
The council said Nigerians in many communities still live in fear for their lives and livelihoods, and that promises made over the years have not brought them safety.
It presented the ADC's presidential candidate, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, as the alternative. Its plan, the council said, rests on better coordination among security agencies, modern policing, technology and intelligence-led operations, and more equipment and welfare for security personnel.
It also pointed to jobs for young Nigerians as part of tackling the conditions that push people into crime.
What happens next
The ADC-PCC urged voters to keep the ruling party's security record in mind when they choose a president in 2027. The APC has not responded to the statement in the reports reviewed here, and Yari has not commented publicly on the reaction.
For ordinary Nigerians, the exchange is a taste of the campaign argument ahead: whether the government has made them safer, and whether another term would change anything.
