The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, declared that “Nigeria is bleeding, Nigeria is confused, and Nigeria is being deliberately pushed to the brink,” accusing the Tinubu administration of prioritizing 2027 re-election plots over citizen safety.
Briefing journalists at the National Assembly Complex, Minority Leader, Hon. Fred Agbedi, said the caucus was speaking “with a heavy heart but with unshaken resolve” as the country faces what it called a convergence of insecurity, judicial confusion, and a “desperate plot to kill the opposition before 2027.”
The caucus condemned the murder of retired Major General Rabe Abubakar while in terrorist captivity in Katsina, and the “questionable” release of his wife. Agbedi said it was “a grave indictment of a failed state” that a senior army officer could be kidnapped and killed “without repercussion,” noting that two other generals had earlier been slain in battle without consequences for the perpetrators.
“If a General is not safe within the borders of our nation, then who truly is?” he asked, adding that traditional rulers have now become “easy targets of vicious bandits.” The caucus demanded a full, transparent investigation into the general’s abduction and murder, and called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to “live up to the title of Commander-in-Chief” by producing a clear security strategy. “Until the Administration defines a clear vision… bandits continue to encircle the entire country, moving from Niger to Kwara, Oyo, etc., without as much as a pushback,” Agbedi said.
Agbedi said school children and teachers abducted in Oyo State remain in captivity “as we speak,” calling it “the new normal under this administration: mass abductions without consequences.”
The caucus demanded an “immediate, coordinated, no-ransom rescue operation within 72 hours,” warning that “each hour these children spend with terrorists is an hour stolen from Nigeria’s future.”
The most explosive allegation centered on a Monday ruling by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court ordering INEC to deregister five opposition parties. The caucus called the judgment “political mischief” and “a calculated attempt to muscle legitimate opposition out of the race for the 2027 Presidency,” especially given a subsisting Court of Appeal decision on the same issue.
Agbedi questioned why the plaintiff’s convener is “holed up in the sanctuary of the presidential villa as aide to President Tinubu’s chief of staff,” alleging a pattern of “external manipulations and executive meddlesomeness” aimed at truncating new alliances and refusing registration of new parties. While commending the Appeal Court for halting the ruling, he urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria to intervene and warned INEC not to be used “to sabotage democracy.”
“Lead or Leave”: 6-Month Recovery Plan
Painting a picture of “general gloom” from Sokoto to Lagos, the caucus accused the ruling party of focusing on “endorsement rallies, defections, re-election strategies” while citizens face “hunger, killings, kidnappings, collapse of the naira, collapse of hope.” Citing Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, Agbedi demanded President Tinubu suspend all 2027 political activities and declare a “6-month National Security and Economic Recovery Plan.”
The caucus’ five-point demands also include an overhaul of the security architecture, improved welfare for frontline troops, and funding for intelligence “not propaganda.”
“We consider this attempt to kill opposition parties through judicial ambush, to ignore mass killings while chasing second term, and to normalize the abduction of children a declaration of war against Nigerians,” Agbedi said. “We will use every legislative instrument to hold this government accountable.”
He concluded by urging Nigerians not to despair: “2027 will not be decided in Aso Rock or by compromised courts. It will be decided by you, the people.”
The press conference was held Wednesday, 17th June 2026 at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, and signed by Hon. Fred Agbedi, Minority Leader, House of Representatives.
