The Vice-Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said an Obi-Kwankwaso administration would be willing to engage all stakeholders, including terrorists and other criminal groups, as part of efforts to tackle insecurity if elected in the 2027 general elections.
Kwankwaso made the remarks on Monday during an appearance on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, while outlining the administration’s proposed strategy for addressing the country’s security challenges.
According to him, dialogue would form part of a broader approach aimed at discouraging violent activities and restoring peace across affected communities.
“We will work with the people, even the terrorists and, of course, the criminals themselves, to see what can be done to discourage their actions. Of course, we will talk, we will talk with everybody,” Kwankwaso said.
He argued that residents of communities plagued by insecurity often have detailed knowledge of those responsible for attacks, including their identities and locations.
“You see, all these things that are happening today, if you go to localities, those places that these insecurities are happening, I can tell you, people know almost everything. They know their locations, the names of all those involved, and so on and so forth,” he said.
Kwankwaso, however, maintained that many residents are reluctant to share such information with security agencies because they fear retaliation and have lost confidence in the system.
“But what is happening now is many of the communities are even afraid to go forward and tell the security agencies or agents of what is actually happening, because many of them have done that in the past, and of course they did not enjoy it,” he added.
His comments come amid ongoing national debates over the most effective strategies for addressing terrorism, banditry and other forms of violent crime, with differing views on the role dialogue should play alongside military and law enforcement operations.
