If we continue like this, there won’t be elections in 2023 -Ejiofor

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, a former Director of the Department of State Services DSS, Mike Ejiofor has said the spate of insecurity challenges in the country might distort the poll.

He stated this during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, calling on the Federal Government to urgently tackle insecurity head-on.

According to him, “If we don’t get these things right before 2023 elections, if we don’t get these things sorted out the various security challenges in the various geopolitical zones, I can assure you that there won’t be elections,” he said.

“There will be a crisis in this country, there will be anarchy. We need to sort out this thing before 2023.

“Let us talk about this country before talking about elections. If we continue like this, there won’t be elections in 2023 because of series of agitations.”

Ejiofor also noted that if the country is being restructured, the issue of security challenges will be solved.

The security official also faulted a situation whereby states would converge at Abuja on a monthly basis to collect allocation, adding that if governments look inward, the states can survive without the periodic revenue.

Ejiofor who also spoke on the controversial past extremist religious views of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami noted that the minister had for the first time acknowledged his past views but stressed that he has since renounced those radical assertions.

The Minister had said the past radical ideas which he championed were due to age, immaturity, and limited knowledge. However, mixed reactions has trailed his reactions as several calls are aimed at his sack.

Meanwhile, Ejiofor said it is the duty of the DSS to do a proper check before any appointment is confirmed and there is no way the department wouldn’t have done a thorough background check before Pantami’s appointment as Minister in 2015.

He recalled that the secret service during the appointment of a former acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu prompted the Senate via a report and barred the National Assembly from confirming his appointment.

“I am not the spokesperson of the SSS but I can tell you that it would be difficult for that information to have passed the State Security Service.

“They must have it on record of his sympathy for Al-Qaeda and some of these terrorist organisations. If the State Security Service submits a report on an individual to government and government fails to act on it, who is to blame?” Ejiofor questioned.