ADC's Isa Ashiru blames El-Rufai's traditional ruler reforms for Kaduna insecurity
- Kaduna ADC governorship candidate Isa Ashiru says removing thousands of traditional rulers under Nasir El-Rufai weakened grassroots intelligence.
- El-Rufai's 2021 law reverted to pre-2001 structures, removing 313 district heads and 4,453 village heads.
- Ashiru promises to restore traditional rulers, deploy artificial intelligence and better equip security agencies if elected.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Isa Ashiru, has blamed the removal of thousands of traditional rulers under former Governor Nasir El-Rufai for the state's worsening insecurity.
Ashiru spoke in an interview with Trust TV on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, according to reports by Daily Trust and The Whistler.
He said the mass removal of village and district heads cut the flow of information from communities to the government and security agencies.
"When the APC government came, they retrenched so many village heads and district heads. They left these places ungoverned,"
he said, referring to the All Progressives Congress.
He explained that reports used to move from village heads to district heads, then to the Emir, and onward to the Governor and the State Security Council. That chain, he said, is gone.
What the 2021 law changed
El-Rufai's administration enacted the Traditional Institutions Law No. 21 of 2021 in June of that year. It replaced the Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) Law of 1991.
The law reverted Kaduna to the 77 districts and 1,429 village units that existed before 2001. In effect, 313 district heads and 4,453 village heads appointed after 2001 under former Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi were removed.
Ashiru said those removals left large areas without proper local oversight, creating what he called ungoverned spaces.
His plan if elected
The ADC candidate said his administration would bring traditional rulers back into the state's security framework to help close those gaps.
He also promised operational vehicles for security agencies and incentives for personnel putting their lives on the line.
Ashiru said he would deploy artificial intelligence in security operations, citing the growing sophistication of criminal activity. He described kidnapping for ransom as an industry involving millions of naira.
He expressed confidence that the combination of restored traditional institutions, technology and better-resourced security agencies would reduce insecurity in Kaduna to "the barest minimum, if not brought to an end."
For ordinary residents, insecurity in Kaduna has meant disrupted travel, fear of abduction on highways and farmland, and ransom payments that drain family savings. Any change in how intelligence reaches security agencies matters to communities that say they currently report crimes with little response.
Ashiru is seeking to unseat the ruling party in a state where security is likely to be a major campaign issue ahead of the governorship election.
