Security Expert Raises Red Flag On 2023. Blames Govt For Digital Minister, Pantami’s Al-Qaeda Saga
A former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has warned that the 2023 general elections would not hold over the worsening security situation in the country.
He also reacted to the controversy trailing the past extremist religious views of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
Ejiofor expressed his fears on the 2023 polls on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s “Sunrise Daily,”. He asked the Federal Government to urgently tackle insecurity head-on.
He said: “If we don’t get these things right before the 2023 elections, if we don’t get these things sorted out the various security challenges in the various geopolitical zones, I can assure you that there won’t be elections.
“There will be a crisis in this country, there will be anarchy. We need to sort out this thing before 2023.
“Let us talk about this country before talking about elections. If we continue like this, there won’t be elections in 2023 because of a series of agitations.”
Amid the serial security challenges facing the country, Ejiofor backed several calls for restructuring, saying the move would help solve the various national issues.
The security official also faulted a situation whereby states would converge at Abuja on a monthly basis to collect allocation, adding that if governments looked inward, states could survive without the periodic revenue.
Pantami had for the first time acknowledged his past views but noted that he has since renounced those radical assertions.
The Minister said the past radical ideas he was championing were due to age, immaturity and limited knowledge.
This excuse however has not calmed the storm which is threatening to sweep him from office.
But Ejiofor said there was no way the DSS wouldn’t have done a thorough check before his appointment as Minister in 2015.
He recalled that the secret service had prompted the Senate via a report which barred the National Assembly from confirming the appointment of a former acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.
Ejiofor submitted: “I am not the spokesperson of the SSS but I can tell you that it would be difficult for that information to have passed the State Security Service.
“They must have it on record of his sympathy for Al-Qaeda and some of these terrorist organisations. If the State Security Service submits a report on an individual to the government and the government fails to act on it, who is to blame?”