Governor of Ondo State and Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has accused his Kaduna counterpart, Nasir el-Rufai, of planning to externalise banditry.
Mr. El-Rufai had carpeted Southern governors after they signed an anti-open grazing bill into law.
However, Governor Akeredolu, speaking through his Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, claimed that the Kaduna state governor was working hard to export banditry to the south, based on an unfounded belief.
He claimed that anyone who made sentiments like those purportedly made by El-Rufai belonged to a deplorable class of leaders.
He said there was no wisdom in condemning/banning open grazing, prohibiting inter border movement of cattle in the North, including Kaduna, with accompanying disapproval of a Law that gives bite to same, in another part of the country.
According to him: “Perhaps, it is apt to state clearly that the likes of Governor el-Rufai are already in a hysteric ‘mode’ of escalating and indeed, externalising banditry, especially as the military onslaught against criminal elements and other terror variants suffices in the North.
“For emphasis, any such comment like that of the Kaduna Governor, if indeed he made that statement, merely seeks to encourage anarchy under the guise “of resentment of a Law by affected stakeholders.
“In order words, it is a cleverly crafted path towards replicating in the South, the most despicable situation in the North that Nigerians of goodwill daily pray to overcome. It’s a ploy beyond the ordinary.”
