The Peoples Democratic Party has criticised the Federal Government for failing to announce the recent United States airstrikes in Nigeria before US President Donald Trump made the disclosure publicly.
The opposition party said the handling of information surrounding the operation raised concerns about transparency and national communication on security matters.
Trump announced on Thursday via his Truth Social platform that US forces had carried out airstrikes in North-West Nigeria, killing several terrorists. The Nigerian government later confirmed the development, stating that the operation was conducted in collaboration with the United States. However, PDP spokesman Ini Ememobong argued that Nigerians should have been informed first by their own government.
“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,” Ememobong said in a statement issued on Friday.
The party said the “passive confirmation of the knowledge and cooperation of the Nigerian Government in the operation” leaves it “deeply concerned about a communication structure where foreign powers break the news of security operations in our country before our government does”. According to the PDP, such an approach weakens public confidence and creates avoidable anxiety.
“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,” the party added.
In his announcement, Trump said, “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.” He added, “May God bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”
The Republican president did not provide details of the operation, which came weeks after he claimed that Christians in Nigeria faced an “existential threat” that amounted to “genocide”. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth later said the operation in Sokoto was carried out in “coordination with Nigerian authorities.”
Reacting to the controversy, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar explained that the airstrikes were approved by Nigerian authorities and that Nigeria provided intelligence support. “Now that the US is cooperating, we would do it jointly, and we would ensure, just as the President emphasised yesterday before he gave the go-ahead, that it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and it is not targeting any religion nor simply in the name of one religion or the other,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“It was Nigeria that provided intelligence for the US strike in Nigeria. I spoke with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, for 19 minutes before the strike, and we agreed to talk to President Tinubu for his go-ahead, and he gave it,” Tuggar added.
What you should know
The PDP’s criticism centres on concerns over sovereignty, public trust and information management in security operations involving foreign partners.
While the Federal Government maintains that the US airstrikes were jointly planned, approved and intelligence-driven, the opposition believes Nigerians should have been officially briefed before the announcement by the US president.
The debate highlights broader tensions around foreign military cooperation, communication protocols, and the sensitive framing of terrorism and religion in Nigeria’s security challenges.
