The party in a statement issued
in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, described
the president as heartless and insensitive towards the current security
challenges facing the country.
It also condemned the fact that the campaign was carried out at the same spot where the ‘bring back our girls’ campaigners have been staging daily protests in demanding the safe return of the over 234 female students that were kidnapped by Boko Haram on April 14 from GGSS, Chibok, Borno State.
President Goodluck Jonathan
According to the party, the message being passed to Nigerians with the campaign is that the re-election ambition of the president comes first instead of security and the welfare of the people of the country.
"Were this not to be so, no responsible group will choose this time, when over 200 school girls have been missing for over 80 days and the terror group Boko Haram is daily killing and maiming Nigerians, to launch a misguided re-election campaign for the President. If their daughters were among the missing school girls, will they be launching a political campaign for re-election rather than pushing for the girls’ release? To show their contempt for decency and as if they were intent on inflicting more pain on the parents and guardians of the missing girls, they decided to position their campaign instrument, wheel-mounted electronic billboards, right at the Unity Fountain in Abuja where committed and patriotic Nigerians have been holding their own daily campaign for the safe return of the girls" the party said.
The party said the Jonathan-led administration which could not curb the menace of Boko Haram and bring back the kidnapped girls is busy secretly funding different groups to campaign for it.
"First there is the Protectors of Nigerian Posterity, then the Goodluck Initiative for Transformation 2015 and now the GEJites. With the expensive newspaper, television and Social Media adverts that these nebulous groups are running, it is clear they are being financed from a bottomless war chest, to which taxpayers have been unwilling contributors. It is sad that a government that apparently cannot adequately fund the war on terror, a government that has lost the initiative to terrorists, a government that cannot provide jobs for its teeming army of unemployed, a government that is running Nigeria aground has suddenly found huge funds to engage in a re-election campaign that is going nowhere, touting tokenism as achievements" the party said.
APC, however, posited that if it was not this administration that gave the go ahead for the ongoing campaign, it should publicly dissociate itself from it and stop the campaigners.
The party also raised the alarm that the Federal Government is losing the war against Boko Haram, pointing out that the sect's onslaught has increased since the abduction of the school girls.
"Almost on a daily basis now, these terrorists have been striking at places and times of their own choosing, even as they are becoming more emboldened to carry their terror campaign right into the heart of the nation’s capital, Abuja. Innocent Nigerians are being killed and maimed in high numbers across several states. Instead of cashing in on the global outcry that followed the abduction of the over 200 Chibok girls to galvanize national and international action, not just support, the Jonathan Administration has been chasing shadows, pointing accusing fingers at innocent groups and people; harassing the media and curtailing individual freedoms. One misguided pro-Jonathan commentator even said the attacks are occurring in states under the control of the APC, as if Bauchi and Kaduna are APC states. We have said it before and we will repeat it here: Boko Haram is a clear and present danger to all Nigerians: Christians and Muslims; Men, women and children; The rich and the poor as well as People of all political leanings and of all ethnic groups. When they want to throw their bombs, they do not ask if supporters or opponents of Jonathan are there. They do not ask if supporters of PDP or APC are there. They just kill, maim and destroy indiscriminately" it said.
The party also repeated its earlier call for a non-partisan method in tackling insurgency like; a method that will not factor in the 2015 political calculations, not demonize a people of certain religion or ethnicity and also a method that will not divide Nigerians along primordial lines.
"This is why we have offered our hand of cooperation that has yet to be accepted by the Federal Government. This is why we have called for a National Security Summit of all stakeholders to proffer solutions to the Boko Haram crisis. This is why we have reminded the FG that Boko Haram is not just a security issue, but also a social, economic and political crisis that must be tackled holistically" it said.
APC advised the Jonathan-led administration to call on all stakeholders to help find ways to put an end to the national dillema as it was obvious that all the tactics it has been using to fighting insurgency were not yielding any positive result.
"The state of emergency, which has been renewed twice, has not stemmed the tide of attacks. Chibok, where school girls were abducted, is not any more secured now as more attacks and abductions have taken place there. The terrorists, who used to strike on the outskirts of Abuja, have now taken their battle into the city. It is time for new thinking, new direction and new purpose in the fight against terror" the party said.
It also condemned the fact that the campaign was carried out at the same spot where the ‘bring back our girls’ campaigners have been staging daily protests in demanding the safe return of the over 234 female students that were kidnapped by Boko Haram on April 14 from GGSS, Chibok, Borno State.
President Goodluck Jonathan
According to the party, the message being passed to Nigerians with the campaign is that the re-election ambition of the president comes first instead of security and the welfare of the people of the country.
"Were this not to be so, no responsible group will choose this time, when over 200 school girls have been missing for over 80 days and the terror group Boko Haram is daily killing and maiming Nigerians, to launch a misguided re-election campaign for the President. If their daughters were among the missing school girls, will they be launching a political campaign for re-election rather than pushing for the girls’ release? To show their contempt for decency and as if they were intent on inflicting more pain on the parents and guardians of the missing girls, they decided to position their campaign instrument, wheel-mounted electronic billboards, right at the Unity Fountain in Abuja where committed and patriotic Nigerians have been holding their own daily campaign for the safe return of the girls" the party said.
The party said the Jonathan-led administration which could not curb the menace of Boko Haram and bring back the kidnapped girls is busy secretly funding different groups to campaign for it.
"First there is the Protectors of Nigerian Posterity, then the Goodluck Initiative for Transformation 2015 and now the GEJites. With the expensive newspaper, television and Social Media adverts that these nebulous groups are running, it is clear they are being financed from a bottomless war chest, to which taxpayers have been unwilling contributors. It is sad that a government that apparently cannot adequately fund the war on terror, a government that has lost the initiative to terrorists, a government that cannot provide jobs for its teeming army of unemployed, a government that is running Nigeria aground has suddenly found huge funds to engage in a re-election campaign that is going nowhere, touting tokenism as achievements" the party said.
APC, however, posited that if it was not this administration that gave the go ahead for the ongoing campaign, it should publicly dissociate itself from it and stop the campaigners.
The party also raised the alarm that the Federal Government is losing the war against Boko Haram, pointing out that the sect's onslaught has increased since the abduction of the school girls.
"Almost on a daily basis now, these terrorists have been striking at places and times of their own choosing, even as they are becoming more emboldened to carry their terror campaign right into the heart of the nation’s capital, Abuja. Innocent Nigerians are being killed and maimed in high numbers across several states. Instead of cashing in on the global outcry that followed the abduction of the over 200 Chibok girls to galvanize national and international action, not just support, the Jonathan Administration has been chasing shadows, pointing accusing fingers at innocent groups and people; harassing the media and curtailing individual freedoms. One misguided pro-Jonathan commentator even said the attacks are occurring in states under the control of the APC, as if Bauchi and Kaduna are APC states. We have said it before and we will repeat it here: Boko Haram is a clear and present danger to all Nigerians: Christians and Muslims; Men, women and children; The rich and the poor as well as People of all political leanings and of all ethnic groups. When they want to throw their bombs, they do not ask if supporters or opponents of Jonathan are there. They do not ask if supporters of PDP or APC are there. They just kill, maim and destroy indiscriminately" it said.
The party also repeated its earlier call for a non-partisan method in tackling insurgency like; a method that will not factor in the 2015 political calculations, not demonize a people of certain religion or ethnicity and also a method that will not divide Nigerians along primordial lines.
"This is why we have offered our hand of cooperation that has yet to be accepted by the Federal Government. This is why we have called for a National Security Summit of all stakeholders to proffer solutions to the Boko Haram crisis. This is why we have reminded the FG that Boko Haram is not just a security issue, but also a social, economic and political crisis that must be tackled holistically" it said.
APC advised the Jonathan-led administration to call on all stakeholders to help find ways to put an end to the national dillema as it was obvious that all the tactics it has been using to fighting insurgency were not yielding any positive result.
"The state of emergency, which has been renewed twice, has not stemmed the tide of attacks. Chibok, where school girls were abducted, is not any more secured now as more attacks and abductions have taken place there. The terrorists, who used to strike on the outskirts of Abuja, have now taken their battle into the city. It is time for new thinking, new direction and new purpose in the fight against terror" the party said.
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