‘Nigeria risks falling into ISIS hands if Tinubu returns’ — Olawepo-Hashim

Presidential candidate of the Accord Party, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has warned that Nigeria could face a greater threat from ISIS-linked terrorists if President Bola Tinubu returns to office after the 2027 election.

Olawepo-Hashim made the remarks during an interview with journalist Seun Okinbaloye, where he expressed concern over the spread of terrorism and banditry, particularly across northern Nigeria.

The Accord candidate described Tinubu as a “national security risk” and argued that the country’s security challenges had gone beyond isolated attacks to a wider threat to the authority of the Nigerian state.

“Nigeria is at risk of falling into the hands of ISIS if Tinubu returns to office,” he warned.

Olawepo-Hashim claimed that more than 30,000 people had been killed by terrorism under the Tinubu administration. He also alleged that terrorists and bandits had expanded their influence into rural communities across 17 of the 19 northern states.

He further claimed that some armed groups were exercising forms of parallel authority in certain communities, including collecting taxes from residents, describing the development as a threat to Nigeria’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty.

The Accord candidate said the situation should not be treated solely as a conventional security challenge, arguing that the government must prevent armed groups from becoming alternative centres of authority.

If elected, Olawepo-Hashim said he would restructure Nigeria’s internal security architecture, including through the establishment of a National Guard to tackle insurgency and other major internal security threats beyond the capacity of the regular police.

The National Guard proposal is not new to Olawepo-Hashim. He has previously advocated an intermediate security force positioned between the military and police as part of a broader restructuring of Nigeria’s security system.

His latest comments come amid continuing security operations against terrorists, bandits and other armed groups across the country. The Federal Government has maintained that security agencies are intensifying operations against these threats, while Olawepo-Hashim argues that the scale and spread of insecurity require a different approach.

For the Accord candidate, the central issue is not only the ability of security forces to eliminate terrorists but also whether the Nigerian state can maintain effective authority over every part of the country.