Fred Agbedi, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its handling of security challenges across the nation, calling for his resignation.
Speaking on behalf of opposition lawmakers during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Agbedi slammed the federal government’s inability to halt mass kidnappings and protect citizens.
The lawmaker condemned the government’s failure to rescue the schoolchildren and teachers who were abducted in mid-May within Oyo State.
He expressed frustration that despite the president traveling to nearby Lagos, he failed to visit Oyo State to directly engage with the crisis or comfort the victims’ families.
According to Agbedi, Nigeria is facing an unprecedented wave of killings, kidnappings, and deep economic hardships, alongside political maneuvers aimed at weakening opposition groups ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Agbedi argued that a fundamental principle of democracy dictates that a leadership must step down if it can no longer protect its people.
Recalling his time in the 8th National Assembly, he pointed out that he had similarly challenged the government of late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari when it failed to secure the country.
“The duty and beauty of democracy is that if you are not able to give leadership to your nation, if your government fails, then both those in the minority, those who are free citizens of the nation, have a right to say, you either perform or you quit,” Agbedi stated.
He lamented that the value of human life under the current security framework has deteriorated to the point where a Nigerian’s life is worth nothing more than “one minute of silence.”
