Politics
Atiku Politicising National Tragedy — Buhari
The nationwide solemnity arising from the killing of more than 100 Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram in Melete, Borno State, was yesterday breached by the exchange of salvos by the two leading presidential candidates, Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar.
Both presidential candidates exchanged blames, even as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, also, yesterday, charged the National Assembly to launch an inquiry into the issue.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, had on Sunday through its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena accused Atiku of leading a gang of selfish and mercantile politicians desperate to take power from the ruling APC.
Atiku in response to the claim, which he said cast aspersions on his person on his birthday and his turbaning as Waziri Adamawa, observed that the Melete incident happened on the same day Buhari launched his presidential campaign, an occasion he claimed the nation’s service chiefs withdrew from at the last moment.
Meanwhile, the Presidency has described the Metele killing as an isolated case, insisting that Boko Haram has been technically defeated.
While noting that the APC has yet to make a statement on the issue, Atiku challenged Buhari and the APC to donate 10% of the reported N100 million spent by the party on advertorials to the families of the deceased soldiers.
“As a matter of fact, we now know through Premium Times report, that these real Nigerian heroes were killed on November 18, 2018, which was the exact time the candidate of the APC, Muhammadu Buhari, invited the service chiefs to attend the launch of the plagiarised #NextLevel launch at the banquet hall of the Presidential Villa.
“The nation can only wonder if the Metele massacre could have been avoided if the APC and President Buhari had allowed the service chiefs to focus on their core duties, rather than on his ill-fated re-election campaign.
“We at the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation commend the service chiefs for beating a hasty retreat from the event as soon as they discovered that President Buhari was trying to hoodwink them.
“It took Waziri Atiku Abubakar only a few hours to respond to the incident and express support, while it took the APC’s President Buhari a whole week to express ‘shock.’ We, therefore, wonder who is truly ‘selfish.’
“It is left to Nigerians to compare and contrast who is a leader and who is a follower, based on the conduct of these two parties.
“In any case, we would like to inform the APC of Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s call for financial support from well-meaning individuals and institutions for the survivors of the Metele massacre, and, indeed, all who paid the supreme sacrifice in the front lines for us to be safe.
“Seeing as the APC spent N100 million to buy frontpage advertorials in all the papers on that fateful day of November 18, 2018, we appeal to them to consider donating even 10 per cent of that amount to the endowment for the families of our heroes as proposed by Atiku Abubakar.
“Incidentally, the APC’s statement accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of ‘selfishness’ and ‘mercantilism’ which is very curious as the Waziri dedicated his birthday, not to himself, but to celebrating the 100 or so heroes of the 157 Task force Battalion of the Nigerian Army who lost their lives to Boko Haram at Metele in Borno State.
“That the Waziri Adamawa asked for anyone who wished to give him birthday gifts to instead endow such on the families of the slain heroes is the opposite of selfishness.
“Ironically, the All Progressives Congress that is now accusing Atiku Abubakar has not deemed it fit to pay tribute to these gallant men who gave their lives in order to secure the lives of others.
“As a party, they have not issued even one statement condoling with the slain or their families, neither have they offered any tangible support to the families of these fallen heroes. Yet, they are accusing the Waziri, who has shown commitment to honouring these heroes, of selfishness.”
But responding through Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, yesterday, President Buhari dismissed the charge, as he upbraided Atiku for politicising what he claimed was a national tragedy.
He said: “They are just playing politics with the tragedy that happened. They are just playing politics. What happened should be a collective problem, it cuts across party lines, it is a matter that patriots must rise and address collectively.
“It is not a matter that PDP and APC would be addressing separately. In saner societies, there would even be no mention of PDP or APC in this matter, it would be a collective problem. The reason is that right from the time they were in power, they were the ones who started this problem in the first place.
“It was under their government that Boko Haram started in the first place and they are blaming others for what they caused.
“As it is today, the PDP should cover its head in shame when we talk about Boko Haram because if they had nipped Boko Haram in the bud, it would not be where it is today.
“They have no moral right to accuse any other government over Boko Haram. Boko Haram was birthed, developed, escalated under the PDP government, so they should cover their head in shame over the Boko Haram problem.”
Breaking: Speaker Obasa Debunks Allegation Of Spending N17b On Assembly Gate
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Thursday described the allegation that the House spent N17 billion on the fixing of a gate as spurious and funny.
A self-proclaimed group, Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition, had accused the Assembly of spending the amount to construct a gate. The group also sought investigation of the claim.
Speaking at plenary, Dr. Obasa said the allegation stemmed from the fear of some people over 2027 which is still more than two years away.
Obasa further debunked the claim that the House spent N200 million on its recently organised 22nd thanksgiving service for staff.
“It is so funny. How much is the allocation of the Assembly in the whole year that we will decide to spend N17 billion on a gate? They even claimed that we expended 200 million on thanksgiving that did not hold.
“We are aware that at a period like this when we are approaching elections in 2027, we should expect such things. I think some people are scared and I don’t know why.
“This House did not and has not embarked on any such project. We are not that reckless. We had our thanksgiving last Friday and dignitaries from various parts of the State attended it,” the Speaker said.
Addressing further claims by the group about the alleged relationship between him and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, the Speaker denied attending the latter’s screening and confirmation by the National Assembly.
“They said that I was at the National Assembly when they were confirming the EFCC chairman. I want to believe that there are CCTV cameras at the National Assembly to identify those who attended the event. The press must have written about it too. So the group should do more to confirm if I was there.
“This is just to deny the allegations in the interest of the public and not the writers because the writers are not those we should be joining words with,” the Speaker said.
Earlier, the House, through its spokesperson, Hon. Stephen Ogundipe, had addressed the allegations noting that the Assembly bases its activities on integrity, transparency and accountability.
“It is ludicrous the claim about constituency intervention funds and constituency project funds and their handling by Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko as claimed by the group.
“One would have expected a self-acclaimed anti-corruption crusading group to do its groundwork before jumping across the fence with conviction that it hit a jackpot to malign an institution of repute in the name of politics.
“Simply put, the Lagos State House of Assembly does not have any such funds. The Assembly does not embark on constituency projects. Instead, once every year, the House holds stakeholders’ meetings simultaneously across the state where constituents have the opportunity to tell the lawmakers their expectations and make requests for the betterment of the state.
“These requests and expectations are compiled and sent to the executive arm of government for consideration as inputs in subsequent budgets. If this is what the group takes as constituency intervention or project funds, we are sure this explanation has given the required education, moreover, it is common knowledge that it is the responsibility of the Executive arm to execute such projects,” the earlier statement by Ogundipe read.
Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
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