US Strikes Exposed Nigerian Govt’s Incompetence — ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised questions about the role Nigeria played in the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) airstrikes in Sokoto State on Thursday night, stressing that it highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s incompetence in the fight against insecurity.

The opposition party said while it welcomed all lawful efforts to protect the lives of Nigerians, the failure of governance under Tinubu had led to an unprecedented military action by a foreign army on Nigerian soil.

The party warned that permitting external forces to carry out direct military operations in the country is not sustainable and potentially undermines Nigeria’s strategic interests in the long run.

The ADC also questioned Nigeria’s actual role in the collaboration, saying Nigeria should not be mere informants in an operation that it should be leading.

The party in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, demanded clarifications on operational control, casualties and specific information about the number and identity of actual terrorists killed in the operation.

The party cautioned against confusing collaboration with what it called “myopic surrender,” and expressed concern over the government’s handling of the information surrounding the operation and the persistent framing of the war against terror in religious terms by the US, which it said ultimately endangers Nigeria’s national unity.

The ADC reiterated its long-standing opposition to the physical operation of foreign military forces on Nigerian soil, adding, “We must not allow our desperation today to compromise the sovereignty of our country in whatever form or guise.”

The party however said it accepted the airstrikes on terrorist locations in Sokoto State, only as a desperate measure that must not be allowed to substitute for a Nigeria-led action against its domestic security challenges.

The party while describing the action as an anomaly said it could only be justified in the context of the historic incompetence of the current administration under President Bola Tinubu in dealing with the nation’s security challenges.

The party spokesman said added that manner in which Nigerians were informed of this development is equally troubling.