On Wednesday, George Akume, secretary to the government of
the federation (SGF), said recent statements by Trump concerning the security
situation in Nigeria have emboldened violent groups seeking to exploit
international narratives to launch fresh attacks across the country.

However, in a statement on Thursday, Bolaji Abdullahi,
national publicity secretary of the ADC, said Akume’s comment was an attempt to
deflect responsibility.

Abdullahi said the party found it “appalling” that the
APC-led government suggested that insecurity in Nigeria was triggered by a
statement made by a foreign president.

He said the claim amounted to “a shameful abdication of
responsibility” and a confirmation that President Bola Tinubu’s administration
is overwhelmed by the security crisis.

The ADC spokesperson said Nigerians had endured massacres,
mass abductions and attacks on schools and places of worship for years under
the APC-led government.

Abdullahi said the situation has worsened under the current
administration because of the “government’s failure to respond decisively”.

“It is therefore disingenuous to blame one tweet for the
state of insecurity in Nigeria,” he said.

“Those killing Nigerians did not need to be instigated by
Trump; they were already actively encouraged by a government that consistently
fails to act decisively to stop the carnage, a government that is, even after
nearly three years in office, still celebrating its electoral victory while the
country is turned into a killing field.”

He questioned how a sovereign government could attribute the
collapse of its security system to a statement by a foreign leader.

He asked whether the country is so vulnerable that “a social
media post from Washington” could destabilise it.

“If indeed Mr Trump’s statement constitutes such a security
threat, what has been the government’s evaluation of that threat, and what
measures have the government put in place to mitigate the potential threat that
could emanate from it?” the ADC spokesman queried.

“This is what any serious government would do. It would not
just wait for these opportunistic attacks to start shopping for who to blame
for its incompetence.”

He said Nigerians are tired of the government’s refusal to
accept responsibility for the situation.

The ADC spokesman said Nigeria was “under siege” because of
what he called domestic negligence and incompetence, not because of Trump’s
remarks.