The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s renewed push for Nigeria to secure a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), describing the move as poorly timed while insecurity continues to claim lives across the country.

In a statement on Sunday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, argued that the administration cannot demand an expanded role in global security while allegedly failing to protect Nigerians at home. He noted that Nigeria has long advocated for a permanent seat on the security council, a demand Vice President Kashim Shettima restated on behalf of the president during the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The ADC questioned the government’s credibility in seeking a place at the global security decision-making table, pointing to a surge in violent attacks across northern states.

“The African Democratic Congress finds it absurd that the Tinubu administration could be requesting a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council even as bandits slaughter Nigerians at home and take control of some of the nation’s territories. We wonder how a government that cannot ensure peace or security at home could demand a seat at the table where global security is negotiated and expect to be taken seriously,” the party said.

The party highlighted several recent attacks, including the assault on a mosque in Yandoto village, Zamfara State, last Friday, where gunmen killed worshippers and abducted several others. It also cited earlier incidents in Zamfara and Katsina that left more than 140 people dead within two months. Amnesty International reported that over 10,000 lives have been lost to attacks by armed groups across Nigeria as of May 2025.

The ADC also raised alarm over growing lawlessness in Zamfara, where armed gangs reportedly extorted over ₦56 million from farmers as a condition to access their farmlands.

“With the level of brigandage going on in that state, we are compelled to ask whether Zamfara is still part of Nigeria. Because when non-state actors collect taxes, control access to farms, and kill with impunity, they are no longer mere criminals, they are a parallel government,” the statement read.

The party accused the Tinubu administration of losing control over national security.

“What is happening is not a mere failure of security. It is clear evidence, written in blood and piles of innocent bodies, of a government that has lost control. In any serious country, these situations would have triggered resignations, emergency meetings, and a strategic overhaul. Here, it only receives routine condolence tweets from presidential propagandists,” the statement added.

According to the ADC, Nigeria’s request for a Security Council seat would not be taken seriously internationally until the government shows it can protect its citizens.

“Leadership on the global stage must begin with responsibility at home. You cannot be asking to be admitted into the club of those who take the lives of their citizens seriously, while the very land you govern is soaked with the blood of the very people you have sworn to protect while you do nothing,” the party said.

The party further faulted Tinubu for missing the passing-out parade and commissioning of 874 military officers at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) for the second consecutive year. It said the president missed a crucial opportunity to inspire new officers and reassure communities in the north.

“With the dire security situation in the country, we would have expected the president to seize the occasion to inspire and charge the new officers to give their best in protecting the country and its people. Instead, the Commander-in-Chief chose to travel to his beloved Lagos to commission the renovation of the National Arts Theatre,” the party said.

The ADC concluded that the administration’s actions reflect misplaced priorities.

“The President has become a passive spectator, watching from a safe distance, while villages burn and prayers end in gunfire. A President that was quick to declare a state of emergency over a political crisis in Rivers but has nothing to say about the existential crisis in Zamfara and Katsina cannot claim to believe that all lives matter,” it said.