Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has taken a swipe at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu. He dismissed Ayu as an arrogant ingrate who was brought from the gutter and installed PDP National Chairman.
Wike was reacting on Thursday to Ayu’s interview with the BBC Hausa Service where Ayu referred to those who want him to step down as the National Chairman as children who don’t know why or hoe the PDP was formed.
In response to Ayu, whike commissioning the Omerelu internal roads in Ikwerre Local Government Area, Wike said: “These children you said we are brought you from nothing,”
Wike challenged Ayu to show himself as a man of honour and integrity by fulfilling his promise that he would vacate the Chairmanship seat if the Northern region produces the Presidential candidate of the party.
Wike: “Somebody said those of you who said the right thing must be done are boys, they are children. You can imagine what power can do. You can imagine how ingratitude, how people can be ingrates.
“I thought as the Chairman of a Party who wants to win the election, your business is to bring peace to the party; your business is not to divide your party, your business is not to show arrogance.
“Dr Ayu said we are children. Yes, the children brought you to be chairman of the party. The the children brought you from the gutter to make you Chairman.
“Ayu, you were impeached as Senate President. Ayu you were sacked by Obasanjo in his administration. Arrogance cannot take you anywhere.”
“I had kept quiet thinking that we will reconcile but since you brought arrogance to say you were elected where did you campaign, show me where your poster was in this state.
“He is telling us that we are children, a man who is inconsistent and ran away from the party, telling those of us who spent our time to make sure this party doesn’t go down, now has the audacity to tell us we are children, we will tell you, you are the prodigal father.”
“I had kept quiet thinking that we will reconcile but since you brought arrogance to say you were elected where you did campaign, show me where your poster was in this state.
“He is telling us that we are children, a man who is inconsistent and ran away from the party, telling those of us who spent our time to make sure this party doesn’t go down, now has the audacity to tell us we are children, we will tell you, you are the prodigal father.”
The Governor said that the PDP Chairman does not have the party’s interest at heart but was only concerned with spending the N14 billion proceed realized from the 2022 primaries conducted across the country, to his benefit.
He added that Ayu’s intention is to ensure that he has a large share of the funds in PDP’s coffers, and making sure it is diverted into his private account.
“Ayu is not concerned about the progress of the Party, particularly, reclaiming all elective public offices in other parties. He is just a prodigal father that cannot be trusted with any important task”.
Hewarned that PDP may suffer major setbacks during next year’s general election should the party allow Ayu to continue administering the party’s affairs across the country.
The Governor stressed that his grievances against the PDP National chairman were not personal but in the interest of the hundreds of members that have been marginalized by Ayu’s leadership style since his assumption of office.
The call for the autonomy of Local Governments has once again been put on the front burner of discuss by the Leaders of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE. They have called on the anti-graft agencies to track the Local Government allocation in the past seven years.
NULGE alleged that State Governors have continued to divert and misappropriate Local Government funds, at the detriment of LG Workers and the administration of the LGs.
This has once again renewed the call for the speedy passage of the Local Government Autonomy Bill, arguing that this would ensure financial independence for the 774 councils in the country and also address the challenges of insecurity and unemployment.
At a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the President of NULGE, Ambali Olatunji, cautioned State Governors against inducing and conniving with the Legislature to stop the passage of the Bill.
Olatunji lamented that only 10 states have passed the LG Autonomy Bill and further encouraged the other States to endorse it as quickly as possible.
He, however, accused some Governors of holding secret meetings with the Speakers of State Assemblies to prevent the States from passing the LG Autonomy Bill in the ongoing Constitutional Amendment.
“The Governors are elected to govern the state as a whole, local government chairmen are elected to govern the Local Government. It is painful when you see the amount allocated. Sometimes, the Local Governments are allocated up to N120 million, N90mn N80mn (from the Federation Account). Ask yourself what gets to the Local Government. At times, it can be N10mn, N5mn; some don’t get more than N2mn. Where is the money going? We call on the EFCC, ICPC and NFIU to track Local Government allocation in the last seven years and tell us what has been done with them.”
The NULGE stressed further that full autonomy for Local Governments in Nigeria would help solve the challenges of insecurity and unemployment, noting that both are local issues that could be addressed by the councils.
“What we are witnessing today; be it harrowing poverty, joblessness, hopelessness, banditry, or insurrection has a deep root in the lack of a functional local government system. Every security challenge is local; the solution to it is local.
“If the Local council has been focused and efficient, all these rural roads would have been upgraded; they can also organise local security and intelligence gathering. We will end insecurity if every community is safe in the hands of local security,” he noted.
A Group under the aegis of Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, NTCA, has urged the Federal Government to operationalise the Tobacco Control Fund, which is targeted at helping in reducing the impact of tobacco in the country.
The NTCA is a member of the 182 parties to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which pledged to take action to reduce the impact of tobacco in their countries.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, Oluwafemi Akinbode, Chairman of the Group, said sustainable funding was critical to achieving the objective of the WHO FCTC.
Akinbode said, “This is what informed the inclusion of the provision to establish a Tobacco Control Fund in the NTC Act, 2015, to ensure the protection of public health from the destructive effects of tobacco in Nigeria.”
According to him, the Federal Ministry of Health through the Permanent Secretary, who was represented by the National Coordinator, Non-Communicable Disease Division, Dr. Dolapo Sanni promised to make the Tobacco Control Fund fully operational within one month.
He said “We have watched and waited patiently to allow the ministry enough latitude to make good their promise. However, we are no longer at ease as it is now over two months since that pledge was made without any sign of fulfillment.
The continued delay in the operationalisation of the fund is tantamount to self-injury on the FG. Revenue that should accrue to the fund from the issuance of licenses to tobacco manufacturers and distributors is being lost.
“Also, the unavailability of an operational account for the payment of licensing fees makes the operations of tobacco manufacturers, importers, and distributors in the country illegal, as the companies have no licenses to back their operations.
“It is also deeply concerning that the tobacco industry with its awful public health implications is indirectly being granted a ‘license-free-holiday’ and is allowed to operate in Nigeria without licenses because of the government’s continued failure to make the Tobacco Control Fund operational.
“It is not a secret that tobacco control activities in the country are grossly underfunded and this ugly delay negatively impacts important tobacco control work.
“The tobacco industry has continued to dangle monies before the government in the guise of corporate social responsibility. The Tobacco Control Fund will give the government the impetus to do what it needs to do and to call the bluff of the ‘Greek gift’ from the Tobacco Industry.”
Akinbode urged the Ministry of Health to step up to its responsibility and make the Tobacco Control Fund fully operational as soon as possible.
He added: “The Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Finance, and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation must also play their roles in the setting up of the account to ensure that the revenue loss is closed, and the Fund is running as prescribed by the NTC Act, 2015.
Nigeria has lost a lot of funds that should accrue to it through licensing of Tobacco Industry players. This is one of the dangers of not having the Tobacco Control Fund fully operational. This dangerous delay must stop.”
Also speaking, the Research Associate, Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa, Austine Iraoya, said the inability to operationalise tobacco control funds by the government gives the tobacco industries a free-for-all process and it promotes illegal manufacturing and sales of tobacco in the country.
“Nigeria made a commitment to the Tobacco Control Act and part of the commitment is to have funds dedicated for tobacco control and these funds are not things we are asking the government to diversify, these are funds that should be generated from the tobacco industry.
“Looking at it, the inability to operationalise tobacco control funds gives the tobacco industries a free for all process and it promotes illegal manufacturing and sales of tobacco in Nigeria. It also promotes illegal exports and the revenues that should be gathered for their operations are lost and we can’t continue to pay lip service to it,” Akinbode stressed.
Like many Nigerians, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to the visit to former President Goodluck Jonathan, at his Abuja home, by the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu was a surprise visitor to the home of Jonathan on Tuesday. He was accompanied on the visit by his running mate, Kashim Shettima and six APC Governors.
Since after the visit two days ago, reactions have been coming like claps of thunder for and against the visit. Some people blame Jonathan for giving Tinubu audience. They called him weak. Not surprising. They angrily remember the contempt in which Tinubu held Jonathan.
While Jonathan was Nigeria’s President, Tinubu was a thorn in his flesh. For five years, he deliberately attacked and tormented Jonathan. He lied against him. He ridiculed him. He insulted him as well as his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan. He used the worst form of propaganda against Jonathan and the Jonathan administration. He called him clueless. So, it was a surprise that Tinubu led a delegation to visit Jonathan, to consult Jonathan on his 2023 aspiration to the office of the President. Tinubu was mainly instrumental to Buhari’s victory over Jonathan.
But others commended Jonathan for his humility, for his good heart, for being so forgiving, for being a statesman, and receiving Tinubu and company.
But the PDP is not amused. Tha Party says it is scandalized by Tinubu’s visit to Jonathan.
In a statement dated September 1, the PDP mocked Tinubu for visiting Jonathan. And told him not to shine with photo ops with Jonathan. The Party said the visit to Jonathan was a desperate move by Tinubu to distance himself from the Government of the day and whitewash his own image.
Following is the full text of the statement signed by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.
“Nigerians are scandalized over the disgraceful and hypocritical attempt by the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other APC leaders to distance themselves from President Muhammadu Buhari over the abysmal failure of the Buhari-led administration in which they are principal actors.
“In a desperate design to whitewash their battered public image, identifying with the obvious successes of the PDP and in an attempt to posture as statesmen, the APC Presidential Candidate, his running mate, Sen. Kashim Shettima and other APC leaders shamelessly orchestrated a photo opportunity with the distinguished and successful former President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“This is a patriotic Nigerian leader whose PDP-led purposeful and successful government the APC leaders viciously harassed, constantly insulted, labelled, sabotaged and discredited for their selfish power-grabbing enterprise.
:Nigerians have not forgotten how Asiwaju Tinubu callously vilified and pilloried Dr. Jonathan, spewed hate against his administration and reportedly funded a near riotous protest which was inflamed by concocted economic lies, propaganda and false statistics to discredit the Jonathan-led PDP administration.
“Nigerians can equally recall how Sen. Shettima as governor of Borno State sabotaged and frustrated the Jonathan’s administration in its effort to curb insecurity in Borno State.
“Records still have it on how the APC Vice Presidential candidate as governor of Borno State failed to act on a security report and directive to close schools in remote parts of Borno State and relocate students to the more secure capital of Maiduguri to write their GCE examinations; thus creating the opening for the cruel abduction of school girls in Chibok, Borno State.
“Nigerian will also note how the then Governor Shettima abdicated his duty as chief security officer and reportedly withheld vital security information in preference to non-state actors including terrorist elements, thereby frustrating the timely rescue of the abducted Chibok girls.
“It can also be recalled that after the infamous abduction, the principal of the school was subsequently appointed as a commissioner in Borno State by the then Governor Shettima; a development many considered as a compensation for her alleged role in the abduction.
“It is, therefore, ironic that these same APC leaders who also spent the last seven years insulting and harassing Dr. Jonathan now shamelessly arranged a visit and photo opportunity in an attempt to launder their image and hoodwink Nigerians from the atrocities and monumental evil they brought to our country.
“It is indeed provocative that after turning our nation into a vast killing field by emboldening terrorist elements to massacre our citizens; wrecking our once robust economy, elevating corruption to an official state policy and turning our nation into the poverty capital of the world, APC leader are seeking to beguile Nigerians again.
“We are aware that these APC leaders have lined up several illusory antics to mislead Nigerians ahead of the 2023 general elections, but they must know that Nigerians have moved on and cannot be swayed by propaganda, lies, false promises and photo ops with successful individuals.
“What is expected of APC leaders at this moment is to apologize unreservedly to Dr. Jonathan, the PDP and Nigerians for the life-discounting situation they have foisted on our nation in the last seven years. After that they should quietly quit the stage, take valedictory pictures with terrorists, political thugs and election riggers since they cannot have any space among well-meaning Nigerians.”
If you haven’t had a good laugh, you have not been with him. And anyone who knows him knows I’m not joking. The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has the rare gift of humour.
Not the run-of-the-mill kind that forces a courteous half-smile. It’s the kind that extracts the prey while putting the cat completely at ease; it just cracks your rib.
It works in good times and in bad. And just as he has done in the last nearly over two decades of being clergyman and public intellectual, Kukah deployed this gift again in a conversation about his new book also meant to mark his 70th birthday in Abuja.
What gripped me was not his thoughts on the book that Monday night inside the cold bookstore where the organisers dug out an impressive space for the event. Or the searing questions gently delivered by the moderator, Chido Onumah, to which he responded with clarity and painful irony.
It was Kukah’s sport, his use of anecdotes and stories to reinforce his answers. He took his examples from everyday life, occasionally deploying self-deprecation in ways that said more than the content of Broken Truths, which in itself is an extraordinary collection of lectures and reflections on the enigma called Nigeria.
Here’s one story, for example. A certain distressed fellow got his phone number through only God knows how. The fellow had been trying to get a government contract. It turned out, as it always does in the Nigerian story, that he could never hope to get past stage one if he didn’t know any big man.
Kukah, obviously after a siege of multiple calls from the distressed fellow, yielded and took the call. After hearing him out, the clergyman explained that he was not a big man and therefore couldn’t help. The distressed man persisted that all he wanted was to mention Kukah’s name as his “sponsor.” Nothing more.
“That’s fine,” an exhausted Kukah replied. “Go ahead if you think that would help your case!” The man did. And it worked. He got the contract just by mentioning that Kukah was his “sponsor”.
Bishop Matthew Kukah
In a sense, the story of the distressed man who needed to drop Kukah’s name to find a way is at the heart of the brokenness of Nigeria eloquently captured in Kukah’s collection, his fifth book in 29 years.
It’s ironic that even as he marks his 70th birthday he is still writing about the same Nigerian problems he wrote about as head of Communications of the Catholic Secretariat in Lagos decades ago; problems he also repeated in lectures, articles and public speeches as he advanced up the ecclesiastical ladder.
To use one of his numerous painful metaphors on Monday night, things appear to have improved mostly in “regression”. It’s a conundrum famously called the “Writer’s Misery”. SonalaOlumhense, one of Nigeria’s most famous prose stylists, touched on this dilemma on his 60th birthday when he said one of his biggest frustrations was complaining about the same things that he complained about when he was 18.
Another story Kukah shared on Monday night was how identity politics has been weaponised. As a faith leader, he has worked to build bridges and promote religious harmony with other outstanding faith leaders including the Sultan of Sokoto. Yet, if this election season proves anything, it’s that there’s still a long road to travel as politicians insist on defining their campaign, not by the issues, but tribe, religion and ethnicity.
As to how he deals with his own identity crisis, he said he is pleased that his village, Anchuna, is not on the map of Nigeria. “When I’m in my state, Kaduna,” he said, “my state comes first and then my village, Anchuna. Of course, the situation changes when I’m out of the country. Then, I’m first a black man, a Nigerian and so on.”
Then he told another story of how once when he went to visit a senior clergyman, his host was so engrossed in watching a boxing match that he hardly noticed his presence. “After the boxing match ended”, Kukah said, “I asked him who he was supporting. He looked up, puzzled and asked me, ‘What kind of question is that?’”
“Isn’t it obvious to you that I’m supporting the black man?”
Identity politics is not a crime. But its salience, especially in the developing countries, is worsened by superstition and the dangerous monopoly of opportunities by the ruling elite. Two books make this point eloquently: Francis Fukuyama’s Identity: Contemporary identity politics and the struggle for survival, and Yuval Noah Harari’s epic, 21 lessons for the 21st century.
While the former explains why identity politics is the new nationalism in modern politics, the latter chides secular people who are at a loss for the grip of religion on politics.
Of the three spheres of influence in human development – technical problems; policy problems; and identity problems – Harari wrote, while religion has receded in the first two, replaced largely by advances in research, science and rational thinking with more beneficial outcomes, it still dominates identity politics. Regrettably, however, this is the area where God serves man, the result has been more harm than good.
Back to Broken Truths. Why broken truths? Onumah asked the question twice, though I was sure it was not the first time Kukah would be asked. After all, outside theology, there is no single version of the truth, a fact which Kukah also acknowledged.
To illustrate the point, he cited the work of the National Human RightsViolation Investigation Commission set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa to bury the ghost of the Abacha era, especially, and bring healing.
Kukah, the secretary of that commission, said it appeared, on the face of it, that Obasanjo meant well. The world was, of course, excited by the South African model, copied from the earlier model in Chile. Obasanjo thought Nigeria could use these examples, too.
He wanted truth, and possibly reconciliation and closure for the scores, if not hundreds, whose rights were abused under Abacha and even going back. But Nigeria, being Nigeria, many turned up at the commission with petitions unrelated to the committee’s work and demands beyond its brief.
And Obasanjo, being Obasanjo, the former president also wanted his own truth, his own way! So, while he was eager to set up the committee and make a show of its work, he was far less enthusiastic to follow through with the committee’s recommendations. In the end, what was supposed to mend, still left behind brokenness from which we struggle to recover even today.
Yet, Kukah said, the illusion that one acceptable version of truth can come from a commission is overrated. It is so, he said, in South Africa, which we love to hold up as the perfect model of truth and reconciliation, as it is in Nigeria, where the mismanagement of diversity remains a plague.
“Apartheid did not end because truth happened and Whites suddenly realised it was important to discard the system” he said. “It ended because apartheid became unprofitable.” Whose truth? Story for another day, Kukah said.
This 11-chapter, 259-page highly endorsed book covers a variety of subjects extensively. It sometimes reads, as Kukah himself admitted, like The Argumentative Indian, the book by the 2005 Nobel Prize winner and Indian, Amartya Sen. Broken Truth shows that given Nigeria’s complexity, its triumphs, travails and endless self-flagellation, however, the argumentative Indian could learn a thing or two from here.
But where did the rain start to beat us? In essays from his thoughts on national cohesion to the existential crisis in the education sector and from human rights issues to the place of Nigeria, and especially its youths, in the future, Kukah insisted that the foundation of today’s crookedness was laid by the military.
“If the military did not strike when it did and the politicians had been left to find their footing”, he said, “we would not be where we are today.”
Is there hope of cohesion, any sign that the broken truths would mend someday? “Categorically, my conclusion is that a great future awaits our nation,” Kukah said. “But for that to happen, we need to create new myths, move away from the distorted pictures that have emerged from the writing (and works) of our respected artists who present only the worst of our nation.”
Those who look at Kukah solely from the lens of his theological dialectics or his intellectual rigour as a thought leader might find his book a bit of a heavy lifting.
But not to worry, after watching a viral video of him dancing to Kizz Daniel’s Buga challenge, his sequel might yet be from the repertoire of anecdotes and humour which he started writing during his work as secretary of the human rights violationcommission.
Surely, even broken truths presented as humour have their healing virtue.
The Presidential Running Mate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, got it all wrong, accusing the Labour Party presidential candidate of fanning the embers of religion and the associated sentiments.
The Obi-Datti Media office which tackled Okowa said the Governor exposed himself as grossly ignoring the magnitude of the nation’s challenges and why Nigerians are rising in support of the LP Presidential ticket holder.
“Okowa’s baseless allegation is one of the many attempts at trying to label Obi as belonging to the country’s primaeval politics, religion, tribe, and geography, the office said in a statement.
“First, Obi was tagged a mere social media blitz, hanging in the air without structure; second, he was labelled an Igbo and IPOB irredentist, and, now Okowa, grieved by Obi’s popularity among the lay faithful now, says he is fanning religious sentiments.
“The truth is that Obi is a driver of a movement whose membership and support cut across all facets of our national life and any attempts to pigeonhole him into any sector will fail.
“Obi has visited Churches even before he became the present run for the presidency.
“In July 2021, he was at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Karu, Abuja, to attend the 25th anniversary of a priest and the church erupted when he was introduced. At various weddings in Abuja, Lagos, and, all over the country where he visited, Nigerians celebrated him for what he stood for and what he did when he held public office in Anambra State.
“One of such functions was Dr Okowa’s child’s wedding at the National Ecumenical Conference Centre, Abuja, this year. Celebration of Obi at any public gathering has been there long before he became began to aspire for the presidency.
“Recently in Kaduna State, Obi attended a wedding ceremony in a Mosque and his admirers thronged around him in a bid to touch him.
“Moreover, Obi – Datti Media office is privy to the fact that in most of the top public Church appearances of Obi, including a recent Dunamis Church outing in Abuja, the Delta State Governor was always invited. He either stayed away or sends his wife to represent him and because Obi does not like a rep where the people want him, he strives to show presence despite his tight schedule.
“We don’t expect Governor Okowa to join in this fantasy talks of attack dogs but to use every available avenue he has to market himself and his candidate instead of dwelling in gainsaying anything that concerns Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
“Truth which is glaring and known to even Okowa is that the Labour Party candidate is leading a movement that cannot be stopped or distracted by any side talk because it was prompted by long-standing oppression of the people who are about to be liberated with Obi’s message of hope.
“Taking back the country and rebuilding it is a task that is almost certain as there is no going back. The oppressors have forced the oppressed to pull the trigger and there is going back.”
Government Ekpemuopolo, popularly known as Tompolo, former Niger Delta Militant, who is one of the Contractors saddled with the safeguarding of the Pipelines, has been rejected by Akwa Ibom State youths drawn from Ibeno Local Government Area of the State.
The Youths have issued a stern warning to the ex-militant warlord, and others not to venture into their territory in the name of protecting pipelines.
The youths, under the auspices of Ibeno Men-clue Development Association, said they do not need ex-militants to safeguard oil facilities having been host to ExxonMobil and other companies.
In a statement jointly signed by the Coordinator of the association, Itam Nathaniel Ikotinye, Chairman, Christopher Enyina Akpan and seven others, the youths faulted the Federal Government’s decision over the award of the contract, maintaining that the exclusion of Ibeno as host community to Exxonmobil is a gross violation of Local Content Act, the Petroleum Industry Act and other relevant oil and gas laws in the country.
The statement reads in part:
“We find it difficult to accept any intrusion or external aggression by way of adopting any named group as a sole contractor for the protection of oil and has pipelines in the Niger Delta to the exclusion of Ibeno host community in Akwa Ibom state.
“Ibeno records the highest production of oil and gas in Nigeria, especially as this action is a negation of the provisions of the Local Content Act and other relevant oil and gas laws in Nigeria.
“We strongly view this action as an incident of marginalization and a conscious attempt by some groups to destabilize the Ibeno oil and gas host community of Akwa Ibom state who has suffered gas flaring and oil spillages for years now.
“We are demanding the inclusion of Ibeno oil and gas community in the protection of oil and gas facilities passing through our communities.
“We shall resist any attempt by any militant or former militant groups or whatever name they might be called to parade themselves as members of Ibeno oil and gas community just for the purpose of grabbing the contract of oil and pipeline protection to the detriment of Ibeno people who are suffering environmental degradation”.
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom says he speaks for average Nigerians that have been victims of attacks by Fulani herdsmen and bandits.
The Governor pointed out that his criticisms against the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari should not be seen as personal vendetta.
He has, therefore, advised President Buhari and his Government to redeem their battered image by rescuing Nigerians from the apron strings of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists who are having a field day in the country.
In a statement on Thursday, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, the Governor said: “This is the painful reality that handlers of the President don’t want us to talk about.”
Reacting to a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Ortom said: “Each time I speak about the dreadful manner the Muhammadu Buhari administration has handled the security situation in the country, his Media Aides and hangers-on come out attacking my personality instead of addressing the issues I raised.
“The latest of such attacks by the Presidency came from the garrulous Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Garba Shehu, who, rather than tell Nigerians the steps taken by his Principal to end the unprecedented bloodshed perpetrated by armed Fulani terrorists, chose to hurl insults on the Governor.
“If the Presidency assumes that I am wrong about my statements regarding the failure of the present Government to tackle insecurity, I urge them to hold a referendum to get the feelings of Nigerians towards their ineptitude, complicity and clear lack of commitment and sincerity in protecting the people.
“It is sad and unfortunate that the likes of Garba Shehu have zero sympathy for the families of those being killed daily by Fulani terrorists.
“As long as their meal ticket is secured, they tell Mr President to go to bed, that all is well with the country.
“Garba is a man whose loyalty is for sale to the highest bidder. He sings in high praise of the President today because that is his current source of livelihood.
“He will be the first to go against the President once the tables turn. He has done that before with other prominent Nigerians whom he served.
”A man who betrays his former benefactor for a new pot of porridge does not possess the moral right to question a patriotic leader like Governor Ortom.
“Shehu blew the opportunity to prove me wrong that I had raised a false alarm about the worsening security situation in the country. Hundreds of our citizens are held captive by terrorists in the forests.
“I expected Shehu to tell Nigerians what efforts the Federal Government has made to release the hostages.
“Was it a false alarm from me that led to the terrorists’ attack on the convoy of President Buhari in his home State Katsina? Or was it a movie acting when terrorists broke into Kuje Correctional Centre right in the heart of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory and released their colleagues?
“It is unfortunate that till date, no officer has been arrested or questioned for the lapses and clear cases of complicity by the security operatives attached to the Kuje facility.
“There are reports of over six jail breaks in the last seven years under the Buhari administration. If that is not a crying shame of failure on the part of the Presidency, we wonder what else qualifies as failure.
“Everyone is aware how the Buhari administration descends heavily and brutally on other groups like Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or Sunday Igboho who have been declared as terrorists with their members arrested and incarcerated but the same Government treats Fulani terrorists with kid gloves.
“Garba Shehu must be reminded that I speak the minds of most Nigerians on specific areas of incompetence or deliberate complicity by the Federal Government in the heinous crimes committed against citizens by armed Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists.
“If I raised a false alarm, why have the Fulani terrorists who are veiled as herdsmen continued to kidnap and kill Nigerians unchallenged? How many of the terrorists and bandits have been apprehended and prosecuted?
“The Buhari administration cannot extricate itself from complicity regarding the evil visited on citizens of this country. The Presidency has failed the integrity test and should rather accept its failure, apologize to Nigerians and seek help to salvage the situation.
“It is clear that the loud-mouthed Presidential Media Aide is unaware that other States such as Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto and even Katsina where the President comes from are under siege. Is that also my false alarm that has given rise to the killings in other parts of this country?
“In case the likes of Garba Shehu and his likes are not aware, majority of Nigerians wake up to face daily frustrations and live in constant fear of who will be the next victim of terrorists.”
Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has hailed the decision of the Federal Government to award the oil surveillance contract to an indigene of the Niger Delta.
Okowa who spoke through the State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, said it was an acceptable practice all over the world to localize some jobs, adding that the essence of it was to get the buy-in of the locals.
The Governor noted that what was important was to secure the oil facilities, saying “we are happy that the contract is awarded to one of the sons of the Niger Delta.
”Don’t forget, they know the terrain and they are in a better position to secure the oil facilities and what lies beneath the earth of the region.
“We don’t know what Governor Rotimi Akeredolu wants, but we do know that the Federal Government’s decision to award the contract to locals is the best. “
Ondo state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu had, in a statement on Wednesday, titled WHO ACTUALLY NEEDS WEAPON? said:
“It is, shocking to read that the Federal Government has maintained the award of the contract to ‘protect’ the country’s pipeline from vandals to private organisations.
“This story, if true, leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The NSA will, obviously, not advise the President to approve the award of a contract of such magnitude if the operators have not displayed sufficient capacity to checkmate the criminal activities of equally powerful groups.
“Consequently, it is safe to conclude that the Federal Government has, impliedly, permitted non state actors to bear heavy assault weapons while denying same privilege to the States, the federating units.
“The award of contract to private organisations to protect vandalization of pipelines raise fundamental questions on the sincerity of the advisers of the Government on security issues.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mele Kyari who also defended the award, stated that it was not the first time that individuals within the Niger Delta region were awarded a contract for pipeline surveillance, noting that the contract was for the interest of the people.
He said it was his belief that the Federal Government has taken the right decision to hire private contractors to man its oil pipeline network nationwide.
Kyari argued that although the security agencies are doing their part, end-to-end pipeline surveillance would require the involvement of private entities and community stakeholders.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has been accused by the Presidency of Spreading falsehood and fanning ember of discord and hatred, especially at this time where insecurity has become a menace.
The Presidency had challenged Ortom to name those who supplied him information that President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered security forces to stand down their offensive against herdsmen believed to be of the Fulani stock.
It also accused the Governor of trying to sow discord amongst Nigerians through falsehood in a period of heightened insecurity”, the Presidency said in a statement signed by a Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu.
Governor Ortom had in a recent interview with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Nigeria, alleged that a high ranking security personnel h informed him personally that the President had ordered security forces not to move against the Fulani herdsmen responsible for recent violence.
“I have spoken to some security men who told me the Federal Government gave them directive that they do not have to move against these Fulani men.
“That is why I keep saying that the Federal Government’s action and inaction clearly show that they are complicit in the criminality that is going on in Nigeria,” Ortom alleged.
But Shehu in response dared the Governor to name his sources or hold his peace.
The Presidency stressed further that the ridiculous claims are patently untrue, and challenged him to name who told him if he is as brave as he claims to be.
“Let him name the military personnel who told him this story or forever shut up,” the Presidency said in the statement titled ‘Ortom’s lies insults national security system.’
“It is disappointing that Ortom, who in the same interview describes himself as a child of God who believes in being lawful and respects the Nigerian constitution, felt the need to spread such a divisive lie.
Read the statement: In a period of heightened insecurity, our politicians should be working to bring us closer together, not risking further violence by dishonestly seeking to further divide us along ethnic or religious lines.
“Fortunately, the cheap, dog- whistle politics behind Ortom’s falsehood are plain for all to see. He is not the first opportunistic politician who has attempted to sow discord amongst his country’s people in the run-up to an election; sadly, he will not be the last.”
Shehu argued that Nigerians will see Ortom for what he is: “an opportunist flaunting his wares as the country prepares to elect its next president; a man fond of posing in military fatigue who expects the country to believe Nigeria’s top security personnel would share high-level confidential information with him. To be clear, they do not.”
Ortom was a former All Progressives Congress, APC, member before defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP from where he had earlier decamped to the APC.
