The Presidency has responded to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, asserting that he lacks the moral standing to criticise President Bola Tinubu over the country’s deteriorating security situation.
Speaking at an event in Jos, Plateau State, on Friday, Obasanjo voiced deep concern about the worsening insecurity and suggested that Nigerians may have to seek foreign intervention if the government continues to fail in its duty to protect citizens.
In a swift reaction, the Presidency accused Obasanjo of laying the groundwork for today’s security crisis, alleging that terrorism began to take root during his administration. It argued that many of the security challenges currently confronting the nation are a direct legacy of his time in office.
The Presidency also condemned Obasanjo’s suggestion that President Tinubu should seek help from foreign governments if he fails to address the security crisis, describing the proposal as an “abandonment of responsibility.” It stressed that inviting external intervention in Nigeria’s internal affairs cannot be considered an act of leadership.
The response was issued 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 said the former leader should reflect on his own inaction when terrorism first emerged under his watch before recommending that Nigeria “surrender” its sovereignty.
“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.
The Presidency stressed that the country is under coordinated attack by terrorists and warned against downplaying the gravity of the threat.
“The people killing Nigerians, raiding villages, kidnapping innocents, blowing up infrastructure and challenging state authority are terrorists whether they fly a foreign flag or none at all.
“Nigeria today confronts a multilayered terrorist ecosystem that includes: internationally designated terror organisations; ISIS-linked and al-Qaeda-linked franchises across the Sahel; local violent extremist groups masquerading as bandits; cross-border terrorist cells exploiting porous frontiers; and ideological insurgents and criminal–terror hybrids operating in ungoverned spaces.
“These actors collaborate, sharing money, ideology, weapons, intelligence and logistics. Their goal is the same: to break the Nigerian state and subjugate its people. Let’s call them what they all are: terrorists.”
The Presidency further accused Obasanjo of allowing the earliest forms of Boko Haram to grow unchecked.
“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 and 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,” the statement added.
The Presidency clarified that while Nigeria welcomes international cooperation, it will not outsource its security responsibilities or compromise national sovereignty.
“Nigeria will cooperate internationally, yes, but it will not raise a white flag because someone who once had the chance lost his nerve,” it said.
It emphasized the importance of global partnerships especially with the United States and other allied nations given the transnational nature of terrorism.
“Nigeria needs the support and understanding of the United States, and that cooperation is already underway. Of course, the collaboration of other allied nations is also crucial. The crime at hand is transnational, and every ungoverned space must come under scrutiny,” the Presidency stated.
