FG accuses opposition of planning to disrupt 2019 elections with Boko Haram, bandits

The Federal Government has accused opposition politicians of trying to disrupt the 2019 general elections by mobilising violent groups to stage attacks in several states in the country.

While addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, January 21, 2019, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the government has credible intelligence that armed bandits and Boko Haram insurgents have been mobilised to engage in massive attacks and other acts of violence in several states across the country.

He listed the endangered states as Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara.

He further disclosed that a Benue-based criminal group, allegedly led by a certain Terwase Akwaza, also known as Gana, has been mobilised to strike soft targets in Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba States, while "a group of notorious miscreants" have also allegedly been mobilised to "provoke massive chaos before, during and after the elections".

The minister also warned that some state governors and top government officials will be targeted by armed mercenaries from Niger Republic in what he referred to as "an international dimension to the evil plan".

Mohammed revealed that the plot is to create a constitutional crisis that could lead to the establishment of an interim government as an act to counter President Muhammadu Buhari's likely victory at the polls.

He said, "You have definitely seen the massive and warm reception that President Muhammadu Buhari has been receiving across the country, compared to the thinning crowds that have been attending the opposition rallies.

"Having realized that their fortunes have dwindled badly ahead of the polls, the desperate opposition is orchestrating widespread violence with a view to truncating the elections, thus triggering a constitutional crisis that could snowball into the establishment of an interim government."

While urging Nigerians to be vigilant, Mohammed said the government is doing everything possible to "counter these evil plans by unpatriotic anarchists" and ensure free and fair elections.

"The administration's commitment to a credible, free, fair and peaceful elections is unshaken," he said.

Mohammed's sensational allegation is another in a long list of allegations that have been peddled by the government and opposition parties against one another in the lead up to the contentious 2019 elections.

President Buhari, 76, is seeking re-election in the February 16 election with Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) considered his main rival.

A total of 73 candidates will contest in the election, the highest ever in Nigeria's history.