An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, in Niger state, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa has raised fears that the 2023 elections may not hold if the spate of insecurity in the country is not dealt with.
Vatsa spoke even as Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State, who days ago rattled Nigerians with information that over 50 communities in his state had been overrun by flag-hoisting Boko Haram insurgents and bandits, said that with the renewed zeal amongst the security agencies in the country and the support of the Federal Government, the security challenges in the state will soon be over.
In an interview after a special prayer session for God’s intervention to end the insecurity in parts of the country, held at the Minna Central Mosque, urged everyone to remain calm because the fresh support and the renewed confidence among the security agents, the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are returning to their homes to live their normal lives.
“I am calling on the people to be calm. In the last 48 hours we have received a lot of support with regards to security agents from the Federal Government; I believe they are mobilising themselves.
“I am very confident with the zeal I can see from the security agencies, I believe everyone will soon be back to their homes and farms”.
He explained that some of the recently displaced persons, have returned to their homes while others have been relocated close to their homes.
But Vatsa, in a statement in Minna on Sunday titled “As the nation bleeds, can Nigerians have a credible elections in 2023” said, “No part of this country today is safe, people are being killed like flies. They have abandoned their ancestral homes for fear and have no hope of returning back soon”.
Vatsa, a former publicity secretary of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger state believes that until the security problem is addressed and peace returned to towns and villages, any attempt to conduct election in 2023 would amount to deceit.
According to him, “Nigerians will know that such elections will never be credible. It will amount to sitting in one place and writing results and the people will definitely resist such manipulation.
“But the truth is that this government can not afford not to conduct credible elections in 2023 because without free, fair and credible elections APC wouldn’t have being in power today. If for nothing, we must give Nigerians a credible elections devoid of any deceit and foul play”.
He maintains that Niger state is one state that no credible can be conducted without addressing the issue of banditry which has brought the state to its kneel, stressing that “right now six or seven out of the 25 local government areas of the state are under siege from bandits.
“So which credible election will you conduct in such local government areas without addressing the security challenges there, it is not possible. Today there are over 20,000 Internally Displaced People (IDP) across these local government areas.
“The state is overwhelmed with this situation and nobody is listening to the governor. So if you want to conduct elections in these affected communities where are the voters”, he queried.
He therefore urged President Buhari to act fast “because the masses who voted for him in 2015 and 2019 can no longer sleep in their houses, they can no longer go to their farms. The country is bleeding and the poor people are most affected.”