El-Rufai issues fresh warning, elections may not hold in 2023 over worsening insecurity, Lai Mohammed disagrees

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has issued fresh warning that the 2023 general elections may not hold, saying banditry, terrorism, and kidnapping are still high, noting that they threaten the conduct of the 2023 general elections, including the proposed population census. He said that elections could only hold if these violent crimes are brought under control.

Governor El-Rufa’i  predicated his warning on the quarterly security report on Kaduna State, being presented by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, in the state.

The report presented to the Kaduna governor last weekend showed that bandits killed 446 people and kidnapped 1,789 persons in the state in the past six months.

The report further indicated that security operatives killed 152 bandits and arrested 624 others in different parts of Kaduna State during the period.

However, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, present at the presentation, maintained disputed the report. He disagreed with El-Rufa’i, stating that the security situation in the country has improved remarkably.

Earlier, some stakeholders in the country have called for the suspension of the 2023 general elections and the setting up of interim government to address the insecurity and other crises in the country. It is not clear if that is the agenda G0venror El-Rufai is reawakening.