The Peoples Democratic Party has criticised the Federal Government’s handling of public communication around the recent United States airstrike on terrorist targets in Nigeria, saying Nigerians first learned of the operation from Washington rather than Abuja.
The backlash follows comments by US President Donald Trump, who announced on Thursday that American forces had carried out a “powerful and deadly strike” against ISIS‑linked elements in North West Nigeria.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS terrorist scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded hours later with a brief statement confirming that the strikes were part of “structured security cooperation” with international partners, including the United States, to tackle terrorism and violent extremism.
In a statement issued on Friday, December 26, and signed by National Publicity Secretary Ini Ememobong, the PDP faulted the communication sequence.
“Nigerians were notified of the American strike on terrorists’ assets through the verified social media pages of President Trump and other American officials before the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a vague statement many hours later, offering a passive confirmation of the knowledge and cooperation of the Nigerian Government in the operation,” the party said.
While acknowledging that international collaboration against terrorism is important, the PDP said it is troubled by a pattern where “foreign powers break the news” of security operations on Nigerian soil.
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“While international cooperation in the fight against high crimes like terrorism is very much appreciated, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is deeply concerned about a communication structure where foreign powers break the news of security operations in our country before our government does,” it stated.
The opposition party argued that this “inverted communication approach” undermines confidence in the government, especially given past reports that US forces had operated in Nigeria without Abuja’s prior knowledge.
“This inverted communication approach does not help the Federal Government or Nigerians in any way, especially when taken against the background that the US military has been reported to have previously entered and operated in Nigeria successfully without the permission and knowledge of the government,” it said.
The PDP insisted that the Nigerian government, not the US, should have been first to brief citizens about the operation.
“The Federal Government should have been the first to report the news in order to properly sensitize the Nigerian populace, instead of waiting to confirm news already in public circulation, unless they were taken unawares like the rest of the citizens,” the statement added.
Looking ahead, the party urged the Tinubu administration to structure defence cooperation with Washington around genuine joint work that builds local capacity rather than relying on foreign‑led missions.
“We urge the Federal Government to ensure that the defence agreement with the United States of America includes joint operations, which will ultimately result in knowledge sharing and experiential learning to help Nigeria sustainably combat insecurity, rather than full externally-led ‘precision attacks’,” the PDP said.