2015: Abdusalami asks for full security

A former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, has called for a holistic security arrangement for the general elections scheduled to hold in 2015.

As the nation draws nearer to the next general election, Abdulsalami urged the relevant government agencies and the public to draw a lesson from the violence that followed the outcome of the 2011 presidential election.

He said that a comprehensive approach for security management had become inevitable in view of the evolving threats to national security in recent time.

Abdulsalami made this comment while delivering a lecture entitled ‘A Comprehensive Approach to National Security Management in Nigeria’ at the National Defence College, Abuja, on Monday.

The former Head of State who handed over power to democratically elected leaders in 1999 expressed worry over increase in crime and violence ahead of the 2015 elections. He stressed that adequate security precautions were necessary in view of the fact that elections in the country had always created room for concern from the perspective of security.

He said, “The wave of criminality is particularly worrisome given the fact that the country is also already warming up to elections in 2015. Our history of electoral politics or conduct of elections is not a palatable one from the point of view of security.

“The need therefore for a comprehensive approach to security management is more urgent now than ever. The need for this approach in the management of national security challenges in Nigeria is made even more urgent by the fact that threats to security in Nigerian have evolved over the years.

“As the 2015 general elections draw nearer, there is need for a comprehensive approach to national security management. Lessons must be learnt from the crisis that engulfed some northern states after the Presidential elections of 2011.”