How El-Rufai Escalated Insecurity in Kaduna, ADC Guber Candidate Explains

• ADC governorship candidate Isa Ashiru linked Kaduna's worsening insecurity to the mass removal of traditional rulers under the El-Rufai administration
• El-Rufai's government sacked 313 district heads and 4,453 village heads appointed after 2001, reverting to an earlier administrative structure
• Ashiru outlined a security plan involving AI deployment, restored traditional institutions, and better incentives for security agencies

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues

Kaduna State - The African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate for Kaduna State, Hon. Isa Ashiru, has said that the sweeping removal of traditional rulers under former Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai created the conditions for insecurity to thrive in the state.

Ashiru argued that eliminating large numbers of village and district heads left wide areas without proper local oversight or intelligence gathering.

As reported by Daily Trust, Ashiru made the claim during an interview on Trust TV on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.

"For instance, when the APC government came, they retrenched so many village heads and district heads. They left these places ungoverned. The report that is usually transmitted from the village head to district head, to the Emir, for onward transmission to the Governor and Security Council meeting is no more," he said.

El-Rufai's 2021 traditional institutions reform

El-Rufai's administration enacted the Traditional Institutions Law No. 21 of 2021 in June of that year, replacing the Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) Law Cap 25 of 1991.

The legislation reversed Kaduna's traditional structure to the 77 districts and 1,429 village units that existed before 2001, which resulted in the removal of 313 district heads and 4,453 village heads who had been appointed under former Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi's administration.

Ashiru argued that these removals severed a critical intelligence chain linking grassroots communities to state security councils, leaving vast areas effectively ungoverned and vulnerable to criminal activity.

Ashiru's proposed security plan

The ADC candidate said his administration, if elected, would restore traditional rulers to their roles to close the gaps created by the 2021 reforms.

He also pledged to provide operational vehicles for security agencies and offer financial incentives to personnel risking their lives on the job.

Ashiru added that his government would deploy Artificial Intelligence tools "because of the sophistication in the industry now."

The ADC guber candidate noted that kidnapping for ransom had grown into a lucrative criminal enterprise, making a technology-driven response necessary.

Ashiru expressed confidence that combining restored traditional governance structures, AI-based surveillance, and better-resourced security agencies would significantly reduce violence in the state.

He added that the situation could be brought "to the barest minimum, if not brought to an end."

El-Rufai's ex-chief of staff accuses former governor of betrayal

Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that Bashir Sa'idu, a former Chief of Staff to El-Rufai, publicly challenged claims about his former principal's political independence.

Sa'idu and other former allies left the ADC after falling out with El-Rufai over the party's governorship candidate selection process.

The rift deepened after Ja'afaru Sani, a former commissioner, lost the ADC governorship primary to Isah Ashiru by a wide margin.