The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has launched a scathing critique of the Nigerian Federal Government’s lack of an official position on the U.S. military incursion in Venezuela, labeling the silence as “embarrassing” and unworthy of Nigeria’s historical role as a leading African nation.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, voiced the criticism during an interview on Television program Politics Today onTuesday, following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, 2026.”What happened last Saturday is a defining moment in international politics, one that has serious implications for the global world order, perhaps since the Second World War,” Abdullahi stated. “And Nigeria has no voice in it.”
Abdullahi contrasted the current administration’s stance with Nigeria’s legacy of principled global diplomacy under leaders like Jaja Wachuku and Joseph Garba.”
This is the Nigeria where leaders stood on the world stage and took clear positions on issues,” he said. “What we have seen is that Nigeria is nowhere to be found, The diminution of Nigeria on the international stage is an anomaly.
It is an embarrassment.”He noted that several West African nations had already articulated positions on the Venezuela crisis, making Nigeria’s absence from the discourse even more conspicuous.
The ADC chieftain suggested a direct link between the government’s silence and its earlier security decisions, specifically referencing the controversial invitation to U.S. forces to conduct operations within Nigeria in December 2025.”By inviting a foreign army to invade your country, you have already rendered yourself vulnerable.
Perhaps this is the reason they are not able to say anything,” Abdullahi argued. “The only explanation for Nigeria’s embarrassing silence at this time is that our government does not have the self-confidence, It can sense its own vulnerability.”
The ADC’s statement frames Nigeria’s silence not merely as a diplomatic omission but as a symptom of a diminished global stature, calling for a restoration of the assertive, principled foreign policy that once defined the nation’s role in Africa and on the world stage.
