Dare Babalola
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu, accusing it of corruption, incompetence, and misplaced priorities in the handling of the country’s security challenges.
In a press release issued on Wednesday by his media office, Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), reacted to a report by Daily Trust which indicated that the Nigerian Army received only seven per cent of the 2025 budget disbursement for security equipment.
He described the development as “a scandalous indictment” of the current administration, noting that such a low level of funding is inadequate to address the country’s security realities.
According to Atiku, “seven percent disbursement of funds for equipment is too low to deal with the grim realities of battlefield challenges,” adding that the situation reflects deeper systemic issues.
The former Vice President argued that the shortfall is a direct result of “corruption, incompetence and insincerity” on the part of the government.
“A poorly equipped army can neither protect itself, nor the country it is supposed to serve. Lack of adequate funding compromises the security of our military forces and the country at large. Incompetence and corruption that cause lack of proper and timely disbursement of funds are the main enemies hindering the efforts to address security challenges,” he said.
Atiku further linked recent security setbacks to what he described as governance failures, stating that “you cannot separate the recent high profile deaths of military commanders from the corruption, incompetence and lack of sincerity.”
He added that “security challenges demand a sense of urgency in the disbursement of funds and the Tinubu administration should apologize to Nigerians for its own colossal incompetence and lethargy.”
The ADC stalwart also criticised what he termed the government’s focus on politics over governance.
“Non-implementation of budgetary allocations have severe consequences for national security, but the government is behaving with cavalier indifference because it’s more obsessed with the 2027 elections than the security of the country. No country can afford to disburse just 7 percent for equipment purchase and expect its military to perform any magic,” he said.
Questioning the administration’s future electoral prospects, Atiku stated, “What will be Tinubu’s credible campaign issue in 2027?”
