2019: Security agencies uncover plots to disrupt elections - Presidency

Plots by some groups to disrupt the processes leading to the 2019 general elections have been uncovered by the heads of various security agencies.

The disclosure was made by the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, on Thursday, March 29.

Shehu, while meeting with owners and decision makers in the media, listed the chief of defence staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin; the director general of the DSS, Lawal Daura; and the director general of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar, as the security chiefs involved in the discovery.

According to the presidential aide, the media had been warned by the security chiefs, against the activities of some unregistered groups that had been active lately, in trying to undermine critical institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and law enforcement agencies.

Shehu further stated that the security chiefs had called for media cooperation to prevent sabotage of the ongoing efforts to restore security in parts of Nigeria, by radical ideologies directed from outside the country.

He also said that they gave the assurance that they would maintain a balance between openness and national security, as regarding the debate over the right to freedom of expression and the government’s efforts to ensure that the digital space and the mass media in general do not become a playground for destabilization and terrorism.

Relaying the message from the security chiefs further, he urged media owners and practitioners to also walk the fine balance between openness and national security.

Meanwhile,top security chiefs stated that Nigeria's insecurity could have a negative effect on the 2019 general elections.

The security chiefs disclosed this to participants at the just-concluded national security summit organised by the Senate in Abuja. They cautioned that stringent and decisive measures should be taken to address the situation, in the interest of the country.

The security chiefs, while briefing senators and other stakeholders behind closed doors at the Nigeria Air Force Conference, reportedly painted a bad picture of the evolving scenario.