By Adesina Soyooye
Alarmed at the alleged shooting inside the Presidential Villa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to speak out.
Since the reported shooting, allegedly, by the security details of First Lady Aisha, at a Presidential Aide, the Presidency has said nothing.
The alleged unfortunate shooting was first reported by an Online medium, Sahara Reporters. Initially, many found the story unbelievable.
But Mrs Buhari gave credence to it by the tweets on her Twitter Handle, where she asked the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu, to release her aides from detention.
Until the First Lady’s suprising tweets, nobody would have imagined that the IGP could detain her aides without her knowledge, and/or express permission.
But shocked like most Nigerians, the PDP, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party “is alarmed by the reported shooting and security breaches within the precincts of the Presidential villa following a reported degenerated squabble among family members and officials of the Buhari Presidency.”
The statement further noted that: “The PDP is deeply worried that the protracted spat between the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, and aides of President Muhammadu Buhari has now degenerated into violent combats, raids and free use of firearms within the Presidential villa.”
The party described as distressing, the report that members of Mr. President’s family were at the scene of the assault against one of President Buhari’s aides, during which the First Lady’s security details were alleged to have resorted to the use of firearms.
“Our party is disturbed by such ugly situation in the Buhari Presidency, which has already heightened apprehensions in the public space over the apparent failure of security architecture and central command system in the presidency leading to such reckless and irresponsible breaches.
“The chaotic situation in the Presidential villa only points to the failure by President Buhari to provide a leadership that can guarantee orderliness in governance and effectively ensure the security of our nation.
“The PDP notes that such leadership failure at the highest level has further exposed why our nation has been bedeviled by myriads of security and economic problems under President Buhari’s watch in the last five years.
“More worrisome is that the Buhari Presidency had failed to speak out on the frightening situation so as to reassure Nigerians and douse the tension in the polity; especially at this critical time when our nation is facing serious security challenges.
“The PDP, therefore, calls on President Buhari to take immediate steps to restore order in his Presidency and shield our security system from the division and power tussle among persons close to him.
“Our party, also, demands for an immediate inquest into the security breaches as well as the alleged violation of COVID-19 ban on inter-state travels by officials and relations of Mr. President, which was reported to be part of the immediate causes of latest disturbances in the Presidential villa.
“Furthermore, the PDP urges the National Assembly to save the nation by wading into the persistent infighting in the Buhari Presidency especially as those in charge of the Presidential villa have not demonstrated the required capacity to engender the needed orderliness for productive governance.”
This will not be the First time the First Lady would tango with somebody in the Villa. The viral video of Mrs Buhari asking the Mamman Dauras to evacuate from an apartment in the Villa, remains unforgettable. She has stormed the apartment, asking Daura’s daughter what they were still doing in the apartment, meant for her recuperating son to stay. Daura’s daughter fed the social media with the disturbing video.
In another incident, she publicly called Shehu Garba, the President’s Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, disloyal, and asked him to resign from office.
There is no price to win by knowing that the resignation never took place.
All the above are different from her allegation, on more than one occasion, that a cabal had taken over the Presidency.
