The National Working Committee (NWC) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), led by Tanimu Turaki, criticized the decision of the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency due to insecurity.
They described the measure as “hollow,” “reckless” and unlikely to effectively address the security challenges facing the country.
The party accused the government of “politicizing insecurity”, stating that the latest decision seemed to have more to do with “playing for the gallery” than with genuine solutions.
In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune on Thursday evening, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, expressed concern that the government’s abrupt decision to recruit more personnel for the army and police would ultimately be counterproductive in addressing insecurity.
Ememobong argued that the “intensive training” led by President Bola Tinubu for new recruits could potentially put more Nigerians at risk instead of improving the situation.
“We are surprised because if people trained full time by the Nigerian Defense Academy and the various police training agencies are incapable of handling the current situation, we wonder how people without any experience will be the solution.
“It is like sending them to be consumed by the firepower of the terrorists, who have long been in the theater of war,” he told the Nigerian Tribune.
The party suggested that instead of the crash program, the government should come up with a “comprehensive security plan” for the country that would be implemented in phases.
“The PDP made this recommendation previously and we repeat it here again: that there should be a comprehensive approach to addressing insecurity.
“This resort to school closures and hasty recruitment of people into security agencies is in itself another problem that the country will have to deal with later,” he added.
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