The African Democratic Congress governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Isa Ashiru, has blamed former Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s administration for worsening insecurity, saying the removal of thousands of traditional rulers created gaps in the state’s grassroots security system.
Ashiru, who spoke in an interview with Trust TV on Tuesday, said the retrenchment of village and district heads weakened the flow of intelligence from communities to security agencies and the government.
“When the APC government came, they retrenched so many village heads and district heads. They left these places ungoverned,” he said.
He explained that information previously transmitted from village heads to district heads, emirs, the governor and the State Security Council was disrupted by the changes to the traditional institutions.
El-Rufai’s administration had reverted to the 77 districts and 1,429 village units that existed before 2001, effectively removing 313 district heads and 4,453 village heads appointed after that year under former Governor Ahmed Makarfi.
The changes followed the enactment of the Traditional Institutions Law No. 21 of 2021, which replaced the Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) Law of 1991 and introduced sweeping changes to Kaduna State’s traditional and emirate council system.
Ashiru said that, if elected, his administration would bring traditional rulers back into the state’s security framework to help close what he described as ungoverned spaces.
He also pledged to provide operational vehicles and incentives to security personnel, saying their sacrifices must be recognised and supported.
The ADC candidate said his government would deploy artificial intelligence to strengthen security operations, citing the increasing sophistication of criminal activities.
Ashiru described kidnapping and ransom payments as an industry involving millions of naira, arguing that tackling insecurity would require a combination of grassroots intelligence, technology and better support for security agencies.
He expressed confidence that the measures would significantly reduce insecurity in Kaduna State, if not eliminate it.