Former Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo has challenged President Bola Tinubu to either decisively utilise the instruments of state power to end insecurity or resign from office.
Adebayo made the call while speaking at the 2025 National Electoral Reform Summit, where he delivered a thought-provoking address on Nigeria’s democratic future and governance failures.
He declared, “To that problem: President Tinubu can use the bullets to kill the terrorists or use the pen to resign.”
According to him, Nigeria’s insecurity crisis is not due to incapacity but a deliberate misuse of power for personal enrichment.
“What they are doing now, they are using the security as an excuse to loot all the money,” he said. “The Nigerian armed forces, the way I know them, can protect the whole of West Africa if you let them do it. But they cannot protect their own barracks if you say they should not do it.”
Adebayo said successive presidents, including Tinubu, belong to a “long line of precedence who have gone against the people and used insecurity to siphon money.”
He argued that sovereignty is not a shield for leaders who fail to protect their citizens:
“Sovereignty is true, but under international law, sovereignty that conflicts with international humanitarian law will be ignored. The fact that you have sovereignty over your people doesn’t mean you can treat them as you like, or neglect them as you like.”
Adebayo urged Nigerians to be grateful to the international community for its concern, even referencing U.S President Donald Trump’s recent comments on Nigeria’s insecurity.