By JAMES KWEN, SAMSON ELIJAH, Abuja
A former Zamfara State governor and senator representing Zamfara West, Abdul’aziz Yari, has assured Nigerians that insecurity would not undermine the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
He expressed the confidence that President Bola Tinubu is committed to ensuring a free and fair electoral process.
Yari spoke at the 8th Edition of Blueprint Newspaper’s Public Lecture, Impact Series and Awards, held yesterday in Abuja, with the theme, “Security Challenges and Integrity of Nigeria’s 2027 Election.”
He maintained that insecurity was a national challenge requiring the collective efforts of the government, politicians, community leaders and the citizens.
Drawing from his eight-year experience as governor of Zamfara State, Yari said he had firsthand knowledge of the difficulties involved in confronting insecurity.
“When you talk of insecurity in the country, I think I am the subject, or those who know,” he said, recalling that he began dealing directly with the challenge about three months after assuming office in 2011.
He said his experience during the 2015, 2019 and 2023 elections showed that insecurity had remained a recurring challenge in Nigeria’s electoral process.
“My little experience on insecurity during the general election in 2015, my little experience on Buhari’s re-election with insecurity in 2019, as well as the election of 2023 with insecurity challenges, are all in the records of what happened. Today is not a different story,” Yari said.
Yari said insecurity should not be treated as the sole responsibility of the President or security agencies, insisting that politicians, elites and ordinary Nigerians also had roles to play.
“We are the security, as well as the insecurity. Leaders, people, are not the business of our government’s security or security architecture only. Politicians, elites, and ordinary men on the streets were all part of it,” he said.
He said the consequences of insecurity went beyond elections, affecting the economy, livelihoods and the general well-being of citizens.
“This subject, or this theme of today, is not only about the election. It’s about our lives, our economy, our well-being,” he said.
The senator urged Nigerians to unite against insecurity and resist attempts to politicise the challenge.
“When I stepped in as a governor, when this thing started, they tried as much as they could to bring the politics. I told them no, it’s not politics. This thing is about our life,” he said.
Yari identified security and the economy as the two major priorities he believed President Tinubu would seek to address.
Also speaking at the event, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, urged Nigerians, particularly young people, not to surrender to despair despite the challenges confronting the country.
Yilwatda spoke while delivering his acceptance speech after being honoured as the Blueprint Person of the Year, alongside 23 other individuals and organisations recognised for their contributions to national development.
He described the award as a humbling honour and a renewed responsibility to contribute to society.
