The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general elections, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has offered strong criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, expressing concern over the country’s worsening security situation.

Speaking during a recent television programme, Adebayo said Nigerians were experiencing increasing insecurity and argued that the current administration had not met public expectations.

He expressed the view that the challenges facing the country had intensified across several sectors, including security and the economy.

“You can’t fail in every aspect. You fail in security, you fail in economy, you fail in culture and you fail in sports. So, you fail in everything, and you expect that people are going to remark on those failures,” he said.

Adebayo also raised concerns about the state of security in parts of the northern region, noting that widespread instability continued to hinder development.

“So you cannot Afghanistasize your own country and expect people to sing your praises. You cannot take every index that you meet and make it worse. Unemployment is worse. Inflation is worse. Security is worse. International profile of the country is worse,” he stated.

He further commented on diplomatic appointments and overall governance, adding: “You either don’t have the competence to appoint ambassadors or you can’t find competent ambassadors to appoint. Either side of the coin is a failure. So you can’t police the state. You can’t secure the state. You fail. You don’t even have enough mental capacity to explain your failure.”

Describing what he sees as a lack of strategic direction, he said: “From all indications, the government has lost its map and it’s just waking up every day reacting to any new incident or the umbrage whether local or international. There is no rational observer who would say, this is the trajectory of where the presidency was headed to.”

He argued that the administration had not yet fully settled into a cohesive operational structure. “President Tinubu has lost control of his own government which he hasn’t had time to put together to start with,” he said.

Using a maritime analogy, Adebayo likened leadership challenges to a captain unable to navigate a ship: “They definitely are in the wilderness. And if the captain of a ship cannot find his way to the bridge… then he has no control over the speed of the sail…”

He maintained that Nigeria’s potential remained strong, adding that the country itself should not be judged solely by its current difficulties.

Addressing claims that the opposition was exploiting insecurity for political gain, he said: “If the president wants to be helped, from what we say, he can pick up enough help. But if they say we are making the capital of misfortune, then they are producing too many misfortunes…”

Responding to former US President Donald Trump’s remarks about Nigeria, Adebayo argued that the criticism was directed at the current administration rather than the nation as a whole.

“I don’t agree with President Trump that we’re a disgraced country… What he meant is that the Tinubu administration is a disgraced government because Nigeria is not a disgrace. Nigeria is not a failure,” he said.

He added that international assessments often focus on the government in power rather than citizens. “So those who are outside don’t see you, they don’t see me, they see the government of the day… And the government of the day, if you look at it, is a failure in every aspect that is important.”