Akeredolu Asks Buhari To Wake Up, Says Insecurity May Threaten 2023 Poll

The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has called on the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the deteriorating insecurity in Nigeria.

Governor Akeredolu spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Tuesday, adding that 2023 general elections might be threatened if the insecurity situation worsens.

He also condemned Saturday’s attack on his Benue State’s counterpart, Samuel Ortom, wondering why governors would be the target of attack.

Akeredolu, who is the Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum described the attack as unfortunate and thanked God for the life of Governor Ortem.

Following the attack on the Benue Governor, Ortom visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Tuesday, and warned that the 2023 election might be disrupted if nothing is done to curb insecurity in the bud.

Akeredolu while speaking backed Ortom’s remarks, noting that Nigerians should be worried if banditry activities reach its full-scale.

READ ALSO: You Can’t Disarm Me And Arm Herdsmen, Ortom Tells Buhari

“I think he is right, definitely we cannot conduct elections under an insecure environment. So if insecurity is not nipped in the bud, it will escalate and if it escalates, all of us should be worried that as at the time we are getting to 2023, we might have a full-scale banditry and other insecurity in the country,” he said.

“With that, there is nobody that can carry out any election under that atmosphere. What is clear is that he has made a good point that the Federal Government must sit up.

“Something just has to be done now to ensure that this issue of insecurity that is escalating by the day is now nipped in the bud and deescalated as soon as possible,” Governor Akeredolu commented on Tuesday evening.

Nigeria has been experiencing a series of security threats ranging from terrorism, banditry, militancy, cultism among others in many parts of the country.

Terrorism in the country has been more than a decade which has killed 36,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the northeast Nigeria.

Also, Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) split from the Boko Haram terrorist group in 2016 and has since become a dominant threat in Nigeria, attacking troops and bases while killing and kidnapping passengers at many checkpoints.

On March 1, the terrorist group burnt down a United Nations humanitarian compound in the town of Dikwa after dislodging troops, six civilians were killed in the attack.

The juhadist violence has spread to neighbouring Chat Cameroon and Niger, prompting a regional joint military operation to fight the insurgents.