Akpabio’s scandalous statement on insecurity

SPEAKING during the unveiling of the corporate headquarters of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) in Abuja on April 14, Senate President Godswill Akpabio shocked many Nigerians when he suggested that the insecurity plaguing the country would be over after the 2027 general election. He said: “You are seeing insecurity today; it is even increasing because the election is coming. As soon as the election is over, watch out! For the first two weeks; you will not hear any single bomb blast, because people are sponsoring it to distract you (President Bola Tinubu).”

The Senate President’s remarks are indeed unfortunate. In nearly every attack that Nigerians suffer, including the many that go unreported, lives are lost, sometimes in the most grievous way possible. Properties are destroyed. Almost on a daily basis, tales of woe reverberate across the land as Nigerians bear the brunt of the senseless brutality orchestrated by outlaws. Beyond physical pain, there is the often-ignored mental trauma suffered by victims. Many communities in the country, particularly in the North, have been deserted. It is disappointing that in the face of such harrowing ordeals, the Senate President chose to make a disturbingly cavalier, deeply insensitive, and patently reckless comment. In the national order of protocol, the office of the Senate President is significantly elevated, and should possess the necessary authority to shape national discourse and make meaningful change in the lives of the citizenry. Akpabio’s statement significantly diminishes that office.

Akpabio’s infamous comment is undergirded by a cavalier thinking, and illustrates the indecency that often attends public pronouncements in the country. The insecurity in the country has extremely grievous consequences, and to couch such realities within the ambit of 2027 politicking is distressing. If the Senate President has vital information that can help security agencies in the country, he can easily reach out to them. If he knows those perpetrating violence, he has a moral and political duty to name them. If not, he owes Nigerians an apology for purveying such a dismissive rhetoric that reveals blatant disconnect from the everyday agony of Nigerians. According to the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, Nigeria, in 2026, is currently ranked 4th in the world among the countries most impacted by terrorism, coming behind Pakistan, Burkina Faso, and Niger. The ranking reflects a rise in attacks and fatalities, including a sharp increase in deaths in 2025. Is the Senate President seriously suggesting that this precarious situation is all down to the 2027 general election?

Akpabio has been a two-term governor, minister and senator, and now he is Senate President. As a public official, he cannot claim ignorance of the weight that his words carry, especially in the face of terrible threats to lives and livelihoods. Surely, Nigerians expect their leaders to provide direction and to have empathy. The essence of leadership is service, and in these perilous times when communities across the country contend with raw violence, statements underlined by indifference, nonchalance and a divorce from reality have no place in the polity. If the utterances by politicians reveal their priorities, then Nigerians have a reason to be apprehensive. Akpabio’s statement indicates a fixation with politicking even as vast swathes of Nigerian territory remain under the control of terrorists. This highlights the sad divide between political behaviour and public expectations.

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Are Nigerians to wait until the 2027 elections are concluded before they can sleep with their two eyes closed? And what will the Senate President say if insecurity persists even then? Shouldn’t federal lawmakers be working hard to provide solutions to the insecurity that plagues the country, putting the Executive on its toes and passing resolutions that will enhance the work of the security agencies? If the legislature thinks that insecurity is all down to politics, then how can long-suffering Nigerians have any reprieve, especially given that the post-election period will not occasion magical disappearance of politics and politicking?

If the world is now a global village, then Akpabio’s comment reeks of poor diplomatic relations. The world heard him clearly, and potential investors in the Nigerian economy would weigh their options more carefully. Nigeria’s fortunes can only nosedive with the deepening pattern of flippant responses created by a culture that places political propaganda above the security and well-being of the citizenry. To say the very least, Nigeria’s political leaders must realign themselves with reality. They must stop revelling in the comforts afforded by public funds. Insecurity is not a vague, distant series of happenstances; it is the daily, lived experience of millions of Nigerians. Sadly, the Senate President’s statement merely reinforces the brutal reality that Nigerians live in.