Elections’ll hold in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, others –NSA

In spite of the insurgency in the North-East affecting Borno,
Adamawa, Yobe and some other parts of the North, the
National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), has
announced plans by the Federal Government to ensure that
the general elections hold in all states of the federation.
Speaking at a workshop on ‘Promoting Peace and Security for
Sustainable Democratic Governance of Nigeria’, Dasuki said
the Federal Government was determined to restore peace and
ensure that elections took place in every state of the
federation.
“To this end, the Federal Government is considering several
options to enusre that all internally displaced people are not
disenfrachised during the 2015 general elections. The
government is also concerned about the implication of
proliferation of firearms in the country before the elections.
Necessary directive to relevant security agencies to be more
vigilant at the borders is yielding good results,” he said.
The national security adviser explained that the workshop was
aimed at training members of the armed forces and security
agencies and sensitizing, mobilizing and developing rulers and
other relevant stakeholders for sustainable violence-free
elections.
He observed that the fierce political struggle for public offices
in the country was fast developing into serious and
acrimonious relations within and among political parties, with
consequential violent clashes among their supporters during
party primaries and campaigns.
Dasuki advised Nigerians not to see elections as a do-or-die
affair but a forum for choosing credible candidates to sincerely
serve their communities. “We can only achieve this by
avoiding provocative, inciting, unguarded, reckless utterances.
Our clergy, politicians, traditional rulers and the media should
embrace peace during and after the elections.
“I hereby warn those involved in causing electoral violence
that they will be severely dealt with. All firearm traffickers and
those in possession of illegal weapons should therefore
surrender their arms or face the wrath of the law.
“I am also appealing to belligerent communities across the
country to explore peaceful, legal and constitutional ways of
resolving their differences as the government will no longer
tolerate any form of violence by any group,” he said.
Dasuki, who was represented at the workshop organized by
the Federal Government in collaboration with UNDP by the
Assistant Chief Statistical Officer in the Special Services Office,
Samuel Akpore, warned those contemplating using the youths
for committing any form of electoral violence before, during
and after the elections to desist from such act as the security
agencies were prepared to deal with them.