Accord Party presidential candidate Gbenga Olawepo Hashim has warned that President Bola Tinubu remaining in office after the 2027 election could pose a serious national security risk, citing the scale of insecurity, displacement and armed group activity across parts of Nigeria.
Hashim made the comments during an interview with journalist Seun Okinbaloye, where he assessed the Tinubu administration’s record on security, the economy and national unity.
He claimed that more than 30,000 Nigerians had been killed by terrorists during the first three years of the Tinubu administration and that about 3.7 million people had been displaced into internally displaced persons camps.
Hashim has made similar claims previously, describing the scale of the violence and displacement as evidence of a national emergency.
He also alleged that terrorists and armed criminal groups have expanded their influence across rural communities in northern Nigeria, with some groups exercising forms of parallel authority and collecting taxes from residents. He warned that continued insecurity could create conditions in which ISIS linked groups gain greater influence if Tinubu returns to office in 2027.
Hashim said the security crisis had gone beyond isolated attacks and required a major restructuring of the country’s internal security system. He has proposed the creation of a National Guard as part of that overhaul.
His proposed National Guard would serve as an intermediate security force between the regular military and the police, with responsibility for serious internal security threats that exceed normal police capacity. Hashim has advocated the idea for several years and previously linked it to wider plans for community policing and state police.
On the economy, Hashim gave a sharply negative assessment of the Tinubu administration. He described its economic record as a colossal failure and said he could not identify a major standout achievement from the administration.
Asked to identify the administration’s biggest failure, Hashim gave an across the board assessment, pointing to security, the economy and national unity.
He also argued that Nigerians are now more divided than at any previous point, adding national unity to his criticism of the government’s record.
The comments come as Hashim campaigns for the 2027 presidential election, with national security emerging as a central part of his political message. In recent months, he has repeatedly called for a broader overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture and a more proactive response to terrorism and armed criminal groups.
Hashim’s latest warning places the security consequences of the 2027 election at the centre of his criticism of the Tinubu administration, while his National Guard proposal forms a key part of his alternative approach to internal security.
