- Asks President To Apologise Over Comment
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s resort to religious colouration and classification of wanton killings in the country by insurgents, as totally horrendous, unpresidential, scandalous, discriminatory, divisive and a huge spat on the grave of the victims.
The party described as highly insensitive that President Buhari could attempt to rationalise the failure of his administration to end insurgency by stating that 90 percent of those killed by terrorists are members of a particular religion.
The PDP, in a statement on Wednesday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, without any equivocation, said that the killing of any compatriot, anywhere by terrorists or bandits, irrespective of religion, ethnicity or class, can never be rationalised under any guise whatsoever.
The party said: “Mr. President’s disturbing statement shows that the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) attach no value to the lives of Nigerians as well as further exposes their manifest lack of capacity and commitment to effectively tackle the worsened security situation under President Buhari’s watch.
“Our party holds that for President Buhari, a commander in chief, who promised to fight from the fronts and now holds all the paraphernalia of power; and on whose shoulders the security of the nation rests, to make such a statement leaves no one in doubt that the Buhari Presidency has reached its wits end, exhausted its propaganda and has no solutions to offer.
“It is instructive for the Buhari Presidency to note that rather than engaging in lame attempt at rationalising failure, the expectation of Nigerians is for it to take decisive steps, track down and vanquish terrorists, who resurged in our country after Mr. President took over as Commander-in-Chief.
“More distressing is that Mr. President’s divisive comment is coming at a time when all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of religion, partisan and sectional interests, are rallying together following calls by patriotic individuals and groups, particularly the PDP, to find solution for the worsened security challenges under the APC administration”.
The party charged President Buhari and the APC to know that every life is precious, irrespective of religion, and that this obnoxious body count as rationalisation for failure is completely unacceptable. It noted that with such dismal attitude, Nigerians have lost all confidence in the commitment of the APC administration to find solution to security challenges under its watch.
The party therefore counseled President Buhari to immediately apologise for his comments, accept failure, rejig his security high command and engage more competent hands to effectively tackle the security challenges.
“Indeed, what Nigerians want to hear from President Buhari is the apprehension and prosecution of perpetrators of mass killings in Benue, Plateau, Kogi, Niger, Yobe, Adamawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and other states of the nation where communities where pillaged under his watch.” The party said.
The PDP, however, urged Nigerians not to allow such statements to deter and divide their emerging common front against acts of terrorism and violence in the country.
