By Ismaeel Aleem
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has derided President Bola Tinubu’s directive to withdraw police officers attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs) as empty political drama that fails to tackle Nigeria’s deepening security crisis.
In a statement issued on Monday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, described the order as grandstanding rather than a substantive response to rampant terrorism, banditry, kidnappings, and violent crime.
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Tinubu had, on Sunday, instructed the immediate redeployment of all police personnel serving as orderlies to politicians, business moguls, and other VIPs.
His Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the affected officers would return to frontline community policing and other core duties.
The ADC, however, scoffed at the announcement, pointing out that it was far from novel.
“This is the third time in 2025 alone that such a directive has been issued – twice previously by the Inspector-General of Police,” Abdullahi noted.
“Each time it generates headlines, yet the officers quietly return to their VIP assignments within weeks.”
He argued that the decision betrayed a superficial grasp of Nigeria’s security architecture.
“Withdrawing a few hundred orderlies from privileged individuals will do nothing to stem the tide of bloodshed in Zamfara, Katsina, or Benue, nor will it rescue schoolchildren from abduction in the North-West,” he said.
The opposition party accused the administration of prioritising optics over genuine reform, insisting that sustainable solutions required massive recruitment, improved training, better funding, and equipping of the police, alongside a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s security strategy.
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While acknowledging that police personnel should not serve as domestic staff for the elite, the ADC maintained that symbolic gestures alone would not restore public confidence or halt the daily carnage on Nigeria’s highways and villages.
