The All Progressives Congress has dared the Federal Government to expose and prosecute sponsors of the Boko Haram Sect.
National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun, threw the challenge at a press briefing on the state of the nation in Abuja on Thursday.
Oyegun was responding to a pronouncement by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party would not hand over power to sponsors of Boko Haram.
Akpabio, while addressing supporters of the PDP, during President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration, had said, “The opposition is fighting a selfish war; they are coming to destabilise Nigeria. We will not hand over this country to blackmailers; we will not hand over this country to sponsors of terrorism.”
Oyegun said, “A few days ago, the governor of Akwa Ibom State pronounced that they were not going to handover to sponsors of Boko Haram. PDP knows who the sponsors of Boko Haram are, why are they not tackling them? Why are they not arraigning them before the courts of law?
“Tell us who those behind this are? The Boko Haram issue is now being exploited for political advantage. The more savage it is, the more they are allowed to threaten, the more they are allowed to progress, the more the people of this nation will feel the necessity to cling to the apron strings of a failed government.
“Who is profiting? Who stands to benefit if three APC states are unable to effectively participate in the elections come February 15? Why is it that they (PDP) have repeatedly made this endless claim that they know those who are behind Boko Haram?”
He wondered why the insurgents could capture Mubi, the commercial hub of Yobe State, with ease. Oyegun asked why troops were withdrawn from the town shortly before the capture.
The APC national chairman asked the Federal Government to wipe out the insurgents if that was what it required to end insurgency in the country.
He also threw jibes at the PDP-led Federal Government for the botched cash-for-arms deal in South Africa.
According to him, Nigeria as a sovereign nation, has the right to officially buy arms from anywhere in the world without going through the black market, adding that there could be a sinister motive behind the government’s resort to under-the-table dealings in the case of the arms purchase in South Africa.
While speaking about the APC preparations for its primaries, Oyegun assured all aspirants of a level-playing field.
He said, “In the next few weeks, our candidates for all elective positions in the February 2015 elections will emerge.
“Our party will conduct all processes for the selection of these candidates in strict and transparent compliance with our rules, and we will put forward candidates who will truly represent the people and work for a future full of hope, confidence, progress and peace.”
Oyegun also expressed confidence that Nigerians would vote for the APC candidates because they would be agents of change.
Meanwhile, a member of the PDP and former Minister of State for Education, Chief Kenneth Gbagi, has called for the immediate sacking of all security chiefs in the country over their alleged poor handling of the war against insurgents.
Gbagi said had it being in other climes, some of the heads of the security agencies would have resigned on their own.
He particularly said the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, had no reason to continue to be in office.
He said the defence minister’s house in Vintim, Mubi, Adamawa State, had been taken over by the Boko Haram insurgents.
He also wondered why President Goodluck Jonathan would continue to retain the services of Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah with the way he said the army had been handling the insurgents.
Gbagi, who spoke with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said it was scandalous that Badeh was still happy to remain in office even with his hometown already in the hands of Boko Haram.
He said, “The capture of some Nigerian towns and villages in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states by Boko Haram is a national embarrassment and highly regrettable.
“I wonder why the service chiefs, the Director-General of the Department of State Security, the Inspector General of Police and other heads of security agencies are still staying in Abuja. They should be sent to reclaim those towns and villages seized by Boko Haram.
“These people are being maintained with taxpayers’ money, so they should go ahead and win the war or be flushed out. They go about with unusually heavy security, meaning that they are more afraid of Boko Haram than the people they are supposed to protect.”
Source: Punch
