I’m not against conduct of elections in North-East – Shekarau

Former governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, yesterday denied the report that he is against the conduct of elections in the NorthEastern part of the country as a result of the insecurity challenges bedevilling the area.

Shekarau had told journalists last week shortly after visiting President Goodluck Jonathan that it would not be safe to conduct elections in volatile states in 2015.

His statement generated bashing from elders of Borno State with one of them, Alhaji Ahmed Ashemi, saying Shekarau was carried away by desperation to please people at the highest level.

However,Shekarau in a statement by his media aide, Sule Yau Sule, said he made the statement on the conduct of elections in the area based on his assessment of the security situation in the area.

“Our attention has been drawn to the news item on the conduct of election in the three states of the North-East where a state of emergency was declared. To make the record straight, his Excellency Malam Ibrahim Shekarau is not against conduct of election in those states but attributed such action to the assessment of the security in those areas,” he said.

He emphasized that security of lives should always remain upper most, as security agencies are doing their best to ensure the security of the affected states before the period of elections.