Jigawa State Governor, Mohammed Badaru has blamed past leaders for banditry and the clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the country, noting that the issue was brewing for many years owing to what he described as neglect by previous governments.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Badaru said the insecurity was inherited by President Buhari in 2015 and has continued since then.
The governor commended the present administration’s efforts on security, noting that the bombings carried out by Boko Haram have reduced.
“If we look at this and analyse it critically, the banditry and kidnapping did not start with President Buhari. It just continued,” he said.
“Before Buhari, there were bombings everywhere, in Kano, the UN office in Abuja. Since he came in, that has ceased. So many local governments in the hands of Boko Haram and that have also gone.
“Unfortunately for us, it gets right at this time and President Muhammadu Buhari is doing his best to solve this problem and curtail the onslaught.”
Governor Badaru, who is also the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Strategy and Contact Committee, Badaru Abubakar, also spoke on his party’s preparedness for the 2023 general elections.
While noting that the APC is a strong party that is repositioned to win the next polls which is just two years away, he denied the existence of any rift between President Buhari and the party’s National Leader, Bola Tinubu.
He added, “No there is none, I think people wanted to see that and that will not happen. I believe it is all politics. President Muhammadu Buhari, Bola Tinubu and all the leaders of the party speak with one voice.
“We have pushed that story about President Buhari and Tinubu to certainly hit the polity. But it is not true. We know that the party is one indivisible and all the stakeholders are being carried along.”
When asked if the APC would zone the 2023 presidential ticket to the southern part of the country, the governor kept mum on the issue.
He however said the zoning would be agreed upon by the party’s leaders and members of the Strategy and Contact Committee.
