Nigerian columnist Ugoji Egbujo has questioned President Bola Tinubu’s bid for a second term, arguing that his administration has failed to establish an effective strategy for tackling the country’s persistent insecurity.

Egbujo raised concerns over mass abductions, alleged ransom payments and discrepancies between official accounts of rescue operations and accounts provided by victims’ families.

He cited the abduction of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members travelling from Oyo State to the eastern part of the country, during which 20 prospective corps members were reportedly kidnapped along the Owerri–Onitsha road near Umunoha in Imo State. Ten reportedly escaped.

According to the columnist, security agencies later announced that drones had located the captives and their abductors but said an immediate rescue was difficult because the area had been mined.

The government subsequently announced that the corps members had been rescued by a joint security team without ransom payment. However, Egbujo pointed to accounts from parents who said they had raised money and negotiated payments reportedly reduced from an initial demand of ₦50 million per victim to between ₦5 million and ₦6 million.

He questioned how the families could have negotiated and delivered money while authorities were reportedly monitoring the abductors, arguing that the conflicting accounts required greater transparency.

Egbujo also referred to the abduction of 44 pupils and teachers in Oriire, Oyo State, in May, who were held for 56 days. He contrasted the government’s account of a security operation with that of a surviving teacher, Zaccheaus Olatunde, who reportedly said two teachers were killed and that negotiations took place before the survivors were shown the way home.

The columnist argued that describing releases secured through ransom negotiations as military rescues could undermine public confidence in official security reports.

He further criticised the continued presence of armed groups operating in areas known to security agencies, alongside the limited capacity of the police and the deployment of the military across multiple internal security operations.

Egbujo also questioned the sums reportedly spent on protecting oil and gas infrastructure, arguing that reliance on private security contractors and other intermediaries had not resolved the country’s security challenges.

He maintained that Tinubu’s first term had not demonstrated a clear strategy capable of reversing the trend, warning that repeated kidnappings followed by ransom negotiations and disputed rescue claims could allow criminal groups to continue operating.

The columnist concluded by questioning what the President would do differently in a second term, given the persistence of mass abductions and the absence, in his assessment, of a demonstrably effective approach to tackling insecurity.