President Bola Tinubu has attributed the worsening insecurity across Nigeria to the collapse of grassroots governance at the local government level.

Mr Tinubu, in his Democracy Day address on Friday, stated that the inefficiency of local government administration in Nigeria posed a fundamental challenge to Nigeria’s development.

He disclosed that his administration was working to ensure financial autonomy for all 774 local government councils nationwide.

Mr Tinubu stated, “Recognising that democracy is undermined when people do not feel its impact, my administration has sought financial autonomy for our 774 local councils. A fundamental challenge to our nation’s advancement has been ineffective local government administration.

“The insecurity we are addressing is partly due to the collapse of grassroots governance. The Renewed Hope Agenda is about ensuring that all Nigerians benefit from governance.

Mr Tinubu lamented how the continued hostage-taking of children and teachers abducted in Oyo and Borno has dampened the commemoration of Democracy Day in the country.

He stated his administration has declared a security emergency and approved the recruitment of more than 50,000 new police personnel and thousands of military recruits to address insecurity.

“Our 2026 budget commits N5.41 trillion—our largest ever—to defence and security. Our administration is ever ready to do much more to secure our people,” Mr Tinubu stated.