Senate President Godswill Akpabio sparked a firestorm of political debate on Tuesday, alleging that the current surge in national insecurity is being deliberately sponsored by opposition elements seeking to destabilise the government ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at the high-profile inauguration of the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS) Corporate Headquarters in Abuja, Akpabio asserted that the violence plaguing various regions would “stop within two weeks” once the election cycle concludes.
The Senate President’s comments were made before an audience of the nation’s most powerful leaders, including President Bola Tinubu, who officially commissioned the new 16-floor world-class edifice.
Akpabio argued that the President’s performance has left political rivals with no viable strategy other than the weaponization of insecurity to discredit the ruling administration.
In a bold and controversial timeline, Akpabio linked the frequency of banditry and insurgency directly to political desperation insecurity is increasing because election is coming, because people don’t know what to do again,” he told the gathered dignitaries.
“Immediately after election, two weeks after election, the insecurity will stop. The insecurity is being sponsored by people,” he added.
He urged Nigerians to remain patient with the current administration, insisting that President Tinubu is “doing the right thing” despite the heightened security challenges.
Akpabio took a sharp, personal dig at the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, mocking the current state of opposition parties.
Without naming him directly, Akpabio referenced a candidate who “got six million votes and abandoned the party,” a clear jab at Obi’s recent departure from the Labour Party in search of a new political platform. “The opposition is in disarray,” Akpabio noted, ridiculing the idea that the ruling party is responsible for the internal fractures of its rivals.
The event also served to highlight the transformation of the nation’s tax agency. Akpabio praised the Executive Chairman of the NRS, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, describing him as the first “tax-man that Nigerians love.”
The NRS was officially established following President Tinubu’s signing of the Nigeria Revenue Service Act in June 2025, which transformed the former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) into the current NRS.
The new headquarters, a massive three-tower complex designed to house 3,000 personnel, was presented as a symbol of the administration’s commitment to modernizing revenue collection.
