Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has warned that the growing politicisation of Nigeria’s security and justice institutions is eroding public trust and threatening the foundations of democracy.
In a statement titled “National Security, Justice, and the People’s Wellbeing: Reclaiming the Purpose of Power” released on Sunday, El-Rufai said the country was drifting from genuine national security to what he described as “regime security,” where state institutions are deployed to protect political incumbents rather than citizens.
He said national security must be people-centred, insisting that its core purpose is to ensure Nigerians live in peace, dignity and without fear, noting that governments are temporary but the state and its institutions must endure.
Citing Nigeria’s National Security Strategy (2019), El-Rufai said security is the cornerstone of development in any free society, adding that no nation can be considered secure if citizens live in fear or institutions are weakened by partisanship.
He accused successive administrations of repurposing security and criminal justice agencies over the last 26 years to shield those in power and suppress opposition instead of safeguarding lives, property and constitutional order.
“There is a clear difference between protecting the country and protecting a regime,” he said, warning that treating criticism and dissent as security threats weakens institutional neutrality and undermines democracy.
El-Rufai expressed concern over what he described as the selective use of agencies such as the police, the Department of State Services, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and even parts of the judiciary against perceived political opponents.
He added that targeting associates and family members of critics without credible evidence amounted to collective punishment, which he said erodes professionalism and public confidence in law enforcement.
According to him, the misuse of security institutions has led to a collapse of public trust, diversion of resources from combating terrorism and violent crime, and the personalisation of state power, with serious implications for national stability and economic investment.
He warned that democracies in which security agencies serve incumbents rather than institutions risk collapse, even if elections continue to hold.
The former governor called for a return to a human-centred, constitutionally grounded security framework, where agencies owe allegiance to the Constitution, justice is blind to political affiliation and opposition is recognised as a legitimate pillar of democracy.
He concluded that national security belongs to the Nigerian people, not those temporarily in office, stressing that lasting peace and stability would remain elusive until security agencies reclaim their role as guardians of the state and servants of the Constitution.
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