Governor Nasir El-Rufai has lambasted Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other southern governors for enacting the anti-open grazing laws in their states, accusing them of playing to the gallery.

He argued that politicising a situation of this calibre with legislation that cannot be implemented is wrong. “What is unhelpful is the politicising of the situation with legislation that you know that you cannot implement,” He said.

 The ant-open grazing law has been signed into law by governors of different Southern states like Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, Nyesom Wike of Rivers, among others.

The anti-open grazing law was agreed on as a measure of curtailing insecurity by the 17 Southern governors, after meeting on three different occasions this year. But Mr El-Rufai, while speaking on Tuesday at a forum on ‘Human Capital Development Communications Strategy Validation Meeting’, organised by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led National Economic Council in Abuja, accused the southern governors of politicising killer herdsmen’s atrocities. 

El-Rufai suggested that ranching will put an end to killer herdsmen’s violence, adding that the Northern States Governors Forum had agreed on ranching. 

“We must move towards ranching. But moving towards ranching cannot be done overnight. We have to plan. We have to have resources,” Mr El-Rufai said.

The Kaduna governor further explained that ranching must be implemented “sensibly.”

“It is not a matter of populist legislation or saying tomorrow this or that,” Mr El-Rufai asserted. “It is not a solution.”