ADC TO Tinubu: Withdraw of Police escorts from VIP is a drama, not strategy

• Says Nigeria’s security challenge beyond police

By Lateef Ibrahim Abuja

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s withdrawal of police officers from VIPs as political grandstanding which will not yield any meaningful results in combating the crisis of insecurity in the country.

The party said this in a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi in Abuja.

The coalition party noted that resulting to this same old move by the government confirms its (government’s) lack of appreciation of the complexity of the security situation in the country and what needs to be done.

The ADC called for a holistic national security strategy that integrates all security agencies as a holistic counter-insurgency force.

The statement reads by the party reads, “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has dismissed the recent announcement by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directing the withdrawal of police personnel from VIP duty.

“While the directive makes for good headlines, it is not new and demonstrates the government’s lack of understanding of the true nature and complexity of Nigeria’s worsening security crisis.

“A country battling terrorism, banditry, mass abductions, and violent crime cannot afford to confuse public relations for policy.

“To start with, this is not the first time we are hearing this from the APC government. In 2025 alone, such order has been given twice by the IGP, whom we believe was acting on the directive of the President. But nothing happened.

“Nevertheless, even if the President succeeds in relieving the police of VIP duties, we must face the bigger concern that by their training, mentality and orientation, these policemen are ill-suited and ill-equipped for the desperate emergency that we face.

“Therefore, the dramatic gesture of withdrawing police protection from VIPs may pander to populist sentiment, but it does not address the problem.

“The government claims that this announcement would add 100,000 men to the police. While this may fill some gaps in numerical strength, the real problem is not the number.

“It is the fact that even our military are finding it difficult to cope with the sophistication and adaptability of the insurgents, not to talk of police men who are ill equipped, ill trained and ill motivated for the complex task of counter-insurgency.

“We find it even more intriguing that while withdrawing policemen from the VIPs, the government is replacing them with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) whose mandate include Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, community protection and educating the people on safety measures.

“Nigeria’s security challenges must be addressed comprehensively, not cosmetically.

“What the country needs is not the reshuffling of personnel for headlines, but a coherent national security strategy anchored in modernisation, intelligence, and institutional integration.

“For the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to do this work, they must be restructured, re equipped, and retrained to confront today’s threats with suitable tools. This work is urgent, and half measures will not suffice.

“Moreover, this government must tell Nigerians the truth. Where is the data supporting the claim that 100,000 officers have been withdrawn from VIP duties?

“Where is the operational plan? Where are the tools, logistics, and systems to ensure that these officers, who are used to being escorts to VIPs, can be effective in the field?

“Merely redeploying policemen without clarity about the role they are expected to play within a larger framework and strategy specifically designed to deal with insurgency and terrorism is meaningless”, it said.

The ADC therefore expressed the belief that if the Tinubu government is truly serious about securing the nation, it must move beyond pronouncements and press briefings, and begin the holistic overhaul of Nigeria’s national security architecture.