The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has criticized statement made by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio concerning insecurity and the 2027 general election, describing the remark as irresponsible and politically damaging.
Baba-Ahmed made the remarks during an exclusive interview from 12:28 on Symfoni TV on Saturday, May 23, 2026, while reacting to claims that Nigerians would experience improved security within two weeks after the next election.
According to the PRP chairman, he was hearing the alleged statement for the first time during the interview and found the implication disturbing: “That’s why when you mentioned this thing, because this is the first time I’m hearing it, that the Senate president said, wait until two weeks, within two weeks after the election. So in other words, they’re now trading votes for our security. Give us votes, and we’ll give you security.”
Baba-Ahmed argued that such a suggestion implied that the government was deliberately tying citizens’ safety to electoral support. “In other words, what they’re doing now is withholding our security and playing with it as an electoral asset,” he stated.
The former presidential adviser described the alleged statement as one of the most irresponsible remarks a senior public official could make. “That is the most irresponsible thing anybody could say, not even do, to say the number three citizen of the country, to say to Nigerians, ‘If you vote for us, in two weeks, you’ll be secure,’” he added.
Baba-Ahmed also dismissed the possibility of restoring security across the country within such a short period: “First, with all due respect, I would say he’s lying. There’s no way you can re-secure a country in two weeks. Because if you can, this is the time to fix it.”
He further maintained that the priority of President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress should be addressing insecurity immediately rather than linking it to electoral victory. “The most important thing President Tinubu or APC and this administration can do is to secure Nigeria now. Now, not wait until you win an election,” Baba-Ahmed stated.
The PRP chairman also suggested that Nigerians may become increasingly frustrated with official government responses to insecurity by the time the next election approaches. “By the time we have this election, Nigerians would have been so fed up with an administration that just rolls out press statements,” he said….Read_More…