State police: Nigerians have no faith in sincerity of Tinubu administration

The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of pursuing security reforms for political purposes rather than addressing Nigeria’s underlying challenges.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Baba-Ahmed said Nigerians have lost confidence in the Federal Government’s sincerity in tackling insecurity and other national challenges.

“It is not necessarily an opposition thing. It is a Nigerian thing. Nigerians have no faith in the sincerity of this administration. They have very little trust that this administration is sincere about dealing with public security,” he said.

The PRP chairman argued that the country’s problems go beyond policing and require comprehensive restructuring.

According to him, Nigeria is currently failing across ethnic, regional, ideological and geographical lines, making broad constitutional and institutional reforms inevitable.

“Our party, the PRP, has committed to restructuring this country. We genuinely believe Nigeria needs to be restructured and should be restructured,” Baba-Ahmed stated.

While acknowledging the need for reforms within the police system, he maintained that such reforms should not be undertaken through what he described as an “opportunistic piecemeal approach.”

He noted that policing in Nigeria has deteriorated significantly, citing the #EndSARS protests as evidence of deep-rooted institutional failure.

“Policing Nigeria has failed so badly that we need structural reform in the policing system,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed also expressed concerns that some proposed security measures could be driven by political calculations ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“The opposition is saying to the government and to Nigerians, watch what is going on. They are creating the impression that they are solving a major security problem, but actually they want to achieve a political end,” he alleged.

The PRP chairman further argued that the Federal Government still possesses numerous constitutional powers and institutions, including the police, military and intelligence agencies, which could be effectively deployed to improve security before the end of the current administration.

He urged the government to focus on comprehensive reforms capable of addressing the root causes of insecurity rather than adopting measures that could be perceived as politically motivated.