APC tackles PDP over stance on abduction of Dapchi girls
THE Federal Government yesterday tackled the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for alleging that the abduction and release of the Dapchi schoolgirls were stage-managed, saying such a position portrayed the opposition party as inhuman, insensitive and unpatriotic. In a statement in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, accused the PDP of plumbing the depths of infamy. He observed that since the release of the girls was negotiated by friendly countries and reputable international organisations, it would have taken a conspiracy of global proportion to have stage-managed the adoption and release of the girls. Mohammed said the reaction of the PDP was because the party failed woefully when it was in power to quickly resolve a similar abduction of schoolgirls.
‘’As we have said many times since the abduction of the Dapchi schoolgirls, no government is exempted from its own share of tragedies. What makes the difference is the way such tragedies are managed. “Whereas it took the PDP 18 days to even acknowledge
the abduction of the Chibok girls in 2014, the APC Federal Government acted promptly and responsively when the Dapchi schoolgirls were abducted 19 February 2018, hence their quick release,’’ he said. According to him, “it is unfortunate that the PDP that failed woefully as a ruling party has also failed grievously as an opposition party, going by its insensitive and crude response to the release of the Dapchi schoolgirls.’ The minister said that in 16 years of PDP in power, the party redefined governance as cluelessness, massive looting of the public treasury and crude exhibition of power. And in its over three years in opposition, the PDP has shown it does not understand the role of the opposition in a democracy. “How then can the PDP convince Nigerians that it has learnt its lessons and that it is ready to rule the country again? Nigerians must say ‘never again’ to this primitive and soulless party,’’ he said. Mohammed assured Nigerians that the Federal Government would intensify the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls and return them safely to their families.
The minister spoke as Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose described the abduction as another clear evidence of failure of President Buhari, declaring that “the president cannot take credit for his own failure.”
Fayose said there was no basis for the APC to applaud the president’s “claim of bringing back home those innocent Dapchi girls that ought not to have been abducted in the first place if not for the government’s laxity.”
The Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka said Fayose made the comments when he addressed the press in his office yesterday.
“That the abduction and return of the girls took place without resistance is a sign that the Apc-led Federal Government has lost the war against insurgency, the basis for which it came to power. It is also a clear indication that Nigerians can no longer depend on the clueless government for their safety.” To Fayose, it is obvious that the APC government has failed to protect Nigerians, if its electoral promises are anything to go by.
He insisted: “The way and manner the Dapchi girls were abducted and returned is a clear demonstration that the Federal Government is fooling itself and not Nigerians as the whole process is shrouded in secrecy, raising more questions than answers. “The removal of military checkpoints in Dapchi ahead of the abduction, as confirmed by Governor of Yobe State, Ibrahim Geidam, clearly shows the complicity of the Federal Government and some individuals profiting from the whole saga. “Despite security alerts by the locals, the military looked the other way, which necessitated the damning report by the Amnesty International.
“I identify with the families of the returned Dapchi girls and sympathise with the deceased. It is obvious that this present APC operates by propaganda, I urge Nigerians not to lose hope as help is on the way.” Meanwhile, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, and former governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni have applauded Buhari for the release of the abducted girls.
In a statement yesterday, Okorocha said Buhari had demonstrated a strong political will by that effort. “How a leader responds to situations or developments goes a long way to show the weakness or the strength of such a leader.” Oni, who is the deputy national chairman (South) of the APC, described the release of the girls as an expression of the Buhari’s administration’s determination to secure the life of every Nigerian. He expressed optimism that the remaining girls in captivity would soon be released.