DON'T TAKE NIGERIA BACK TO THE ABACHA DAYS OF ASSASSINATIONS - APC TELLS JONATHAN
By Boluwatife Awoks
The
All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Jonathan administration
not to take Nigeria back to the dreaded and calamitous days of the late
Gen. Sani Abacha, when perceived opponents of the government were
targets of rampaging murderous gangs and Nigeria was turned to a pariah
nation through unbridled human rights abuses.
In a statement
issued in Osogbo on Friday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party expressed serious concern over the
allegations that the Jonathan administration is training snipers at the
same facility where the Abacha killer squad was trained; talks of abuse
and misuse of the military and other security apparatus for personal and
political interest as well as the reported placing of 1,000 people
under a 'political watch-list'
It said the party is constrained
to take the allegations very seriously because it emanated from no less
a personality than former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in an open
letter he wrote to his fellow party man, President Jonathan, which has
now been widely circulated in the traditional and Social Media..
''All Nigerians must be worried by these weighty allegations, coming
less than 15 years after the long-suffering people had collectively
vowed 'never again' to a regime like Abacha's that sent many innocent
souls to their early graves and dispatched many citizens into forced
exile for merely holding views that were opposed to that of the late
dictator's government.
''We are therefore compelled to call on
President Jonathan to urgently address these allegations, which have
already sent jitters down the spines of Nigerians, especially those who
hold views that are diametrically opposed to the administration's. The
allegations cannot and must not be swept under the carpet, otherwise
Nigerians will know who to hold responsible if perceived opponents of
the administration come to any harm,'' APC said.
The party
however expressed total satisfaction that more and more people within
the ruling PDP are now coming to terms with the real dangers facing the
country under their party which, despite being in power at the centre
since Nigeria's return to democratic rule in 1999, has only succeeded in
putting the country in reverse gear and is now threatening its
fledgling democracy, following its (PDP's) implosion.
''We are
not concerned by the dirty politics in the PDP and the glaring fact that
the behemoth is sinking fast. What bothers us is the impact that the
death throes of this rudderless party will have on our fragile polity.
''We in the opposition have shouted ourselves hoarse about the failings
of the successive PDP administrations, especially the Jonathan
government, in critical sectors of the economy, in particular the
worsening unemployment that has put the nation on tenterhooks
''We have said the Boko Haram crisis cannot be resolved by military
onslaught alone and that it must be tackled from its roots; that
corruption has reached an unprecedented level; that the investments by
the oil majors in that sector have dwindled dangerously; that the
discovery of Shale oil in the US threatens our economy; and that the
government must move fast to check the unprecedented high cases of crude
oil theft.
''We have also issued numerous interventions on the
victimization of perceived political opponents of President Jonathan,
citing the case of Gov. Chibuike Amaechi as a reference point; that the
Jonathan administration has taken Nigerians for granted by ignoring
monumental cases of corruption and even embracing known corrupt
officials as long as their deep pockets can benefit the President's
political machinery, and that the National Conference will not serve any
purpose since it was conceived as a political gimmick rather than a
genuine effort to help lift our country.
''Our party is
delighted that these same issues were raised in the letter by President
Jonathan's estranged political Godfather, his very own party man. We
recall that a few days earlier, another top PDP bigwig and the nation's
number four citizen, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, had lampooned the Jonathan
administration's apathetic fight against corruption.
''Because
truth is constant, gradually but surely, people are rising above
partisanship to join those of us who have been warning, ceaselessly,
that the ship of state is heading for the rocks because the Captain has
decided to ignore the radar and steer the ship blindly even in turbulent
waters. This jettisoning of partisanship and the coming out of heads
that have been buried in the sand for so long represent a good omen for
Nigeria,'' it said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Interim National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Osogbo, Dec. 13th 2013
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