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• Urges Tinubu to rescue abducted Oyo children, teachers in 72 hours
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives Minority Caucus has accused the Federal Government of elevating 2027 politics above the lives and welfare of the citizens and tasked President Bola Tinubu to secure the release of the abducted Oyo schoolchildren and teachers within 72 hours.
The caucus at a press briefing addressed by the Minority Leader, Fredrick Agbedi and other minority principal officers, decried the spate of insecurity in the country.
The lawmakers stated that while the country is being ravaged by insecurity and hunger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Presidency are preoccupied with 2027 politics.
The caucus challenged the Federal Government to deploy a special military operation to rescue the school children and their teachers without excuses, calling for an end to mass abductions without consequences.
He also condemned a situation where terrorists dictate terms, knocking the current administration as a government that issues statements instead of results.
The lawmakers, who called for an immediate overhaul of the national security architecture, described the state of emergency declared by the President in 2025 in Rivers State as a move targeted at political opponents.
The caucus said the Federal Government must desist from propaganda and fund security intelligence, improve welfare for frontline troops, and not give wildcards to political appointees.
According to them, “Nigeria is bleeding. Nigeria is confused. And Nigeria is being deliberately pushed to the brink by a government that has elevated 2027 electioneering above the lives and welfare of citizens.
“From Sokoto to Enugu, from Borno to Lagos, the story is the same: hunger, killings, kidnappings, collapse of the naira, collapse of hope.
“Yet what preoccupies the ruling party and the Presidency is 2027. Endorsement rallies. Defections. Re-election strategies. Town hall meetings to discuss tenure security.
“The life of every Nigerian matters. Politics must take the back seat when the nation bleeds. We must secure Nigeria first. Government exists primarily for the security and welfare of the people. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution is not a suggestion. It is a mandate.”
The minority caucus condemned the death of former Defence spokesman,
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“Major General Abubakar Rabe, while in the captivity of bandits in Katsina State, as well as the kidnap of school children and their teachers in Oyo State.
“While we mourn General Rabe, we ask: If a General is not safe within the borders of our nation, then who truly is? Not even our respected traditional rulers and monarchs, who have now become easy targets of vicious bandits who kidnap and kill them at will. Our security is in the mud. Yet, the political class is busy rehearsing new political dance steps, seemingly unbothered.”
They contended that “at a period in our nation’s long-drawn battle with these insurgents, victory was close by, especially with the presence of mercenaries in the frontlines.
“Today, no one is sure what the strategy, if any, is. So, until the Administration defines a clear vision and pursues it with purpose, bandits continue to encircle the entire country, moving from Niger to Kwara, Oyo et cetera, without as much as a push back. General Rabe’s death must, therefore, evoke an urgent battle cry, which proclaims: Never again!
“As we speak, school children and their teachers abducted in Oyo State remain in captivity. Their crime? Going to school in Nigeria. Can we pause for a moment and imagine the gory conditions of those innocent children – and others still in captivity in other parts of the country – in the cold hands of bloodthirsty beasts.
“This is, indeed, the new normal under this administration: mass abductions without consequences, terrorists dictating terms, and a government that issues statements instead of results.
“We demand an immediate, coordinated, no-ransom rescue operation. Each hour these children spend with terrorists is an hour stolen from Nigeria’s future. “
The opposition lawmakers, while demanding an overhaul of the country’s security architecture, also charged the government to launch a special military operation within the next 72 hours to rescue school children and teachers abducted by gunmen in Oyo State.
Furthermore, the caucus added that “earlier this week, in a move that reeks of political mischief, a Federal High Court presided over by Justice Peter Lifu ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC to de-register five opposition political parties.
“This judgment, coming only months to the country’s general elections and after a subsisting Appeal Court decision on the same matter, is not intended to serve justice. Instead, it appears to be a deliberate ploy to engender judicial chaos weaponized to destabilize the polity. For us as a Caucus, this is rascality taken too far, and a danger to participatory democracy.
“Let us be clear: We consider Justice Lifu’s judgment as a calculated attempt to muscle legitimate opposition out of the race for the 2027 Presidency.”
The opposition lawmakers demanded that “the Chief Justice of Nigeria must wade into the conflicting judgments on party registration to save the judiciary from further embarrassment. INEC must resist being used to sabotage democracy. We will not accept a 2027 election rigged before it begins. “
