El-Rufai: Informing Buhari of terrorists’ threat not security failure

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said his decision to inform President Muhammadu Buhari of the terrorists’ threat to abduct the latter was not related to failure on the part of the security agencies.

El-Rufai, in a live media chat in Kaduna on Wednesday, said President Buhari was not aware of the terrorists’ threat until he informed him during their meeting last Sunday.

He added that he has since been calling for the bombing of the terrorists’ camps, saying it’s the solution to the worsening insecurity in the country.

Reacting to the reactions that trailed the development, the governor, in a statement issued on Friday by his Media Adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, said it is expected of El-Rufai to share information with Buhari without prejudice to any security agency.

Adekeye stated: “As a digitally-active governor with a significant presence in the social media, he was the first to draw the attention of Mr. President to the viral video making the rounds that day. without prejudice to any security.

“It is incumbent on him to share information with the President, or media reports that the President may receive from any other sources. The President had not seen the viral video at that point in time.

“The suggestion and storylines by a section of the media that this amounted to a failing by the security agencies to brief Mr. President is not what the governor expressly said in the Hausa language interview.

“At all times, it is important that the media exercises restraint and ensures contextual accuracy in reporting, and avoids issues that may arise from or be lost in translation.

“We must not by acts of commission or omission glorify the terrorists or demonise officials charged with the duty to contain and destroy them. Nigeria’s security challenges should neither be politicised nor deployed to mislead our people,” the governor’s aide noted.

The Star