Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has voiced its concern over what it sees as misplaced priorities by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu.
According to the group, the government seems more focused on early political campaigns and expanding its political influence ahead of the 2027 elections than tackling the serious issues facing Nigeria.
In a detailed statement released by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the forum noted that key national problems—especially insecurity in the North—have been ignored while politicians strategize for future elections.
ACF said government responses to the ongoing security threats have fallen short and left many citizens feeling unsafe and unheard.
ACF stated: “A most perverse illustration of reckless profligacy of public expenditure has been the revelation about insertions in the 2025 federal budget, for the provision of streetlights at a staggering and unimaginable costs of over N260 million each.
“That there has to date been no official denial of such crassly reckless and surreal insertions attests to the insensitivity of public officials and political representatives to the plight of ordinary Nigerians, whose living conditions continue to deteriorate all round.
“Going by precedent, such budgetary insertions are replicated in various ways at state level. As ACF observed a year ago, the existential challenges above are symptomatic of fundamental malaise in the political economy calling for urgent public policy attention.
“Delusional hubris and head-in-the-sand claims continue to characterise pronouncement by officials charged with responsibilities for security in contrast to cries of state governors on ground in locations. ‘’Such obsessions and claims only ignore or give blind eyes to possible mass disillusionment, despair, discontent, hopelessness and angst of the populace.
“That Nigerians continue to endure and could even celebrate occasions such as the Eid is a telling testament to their admirable resilience, which ought not to be taken for granted.’’
