The Presidency on Sunday accused the opposition APC of dishonesty and playing politics with insurgency and terrorism.
Dr. Reuben Abati
The Presidential Spokesperson, Dr Reuben Abati, made the statement in a reaction to a statement credited to the APC accusing President Goodluck Jonathan of abdicating his responsibility in the fight against terrorism.
“It is very clear that the APC is being dishonest. Its intention is to play politics with insurgency and terrorism.
“I think the question needs to be pointedly asked: `What country does the APC belongs to?
“What country is the APC seeking to preside over?
“As it appears, the APC seems blinded by its own narrow ambition and that is why in recent times, you can find some persons purportedly speaking for the APC making completely illogical and unreasonable statements.
“If you look at the statement by Lai Muhammed, he is accusing the government of abdicating its responsibilities.
“President Jonathan has never at any time abdicated responsibilities.
“He has consistently made it clear that the safety of every Nigerian is important to him, that the security of lives and property is central to all the goals and objectives of this administratio,” he said..
Abati noted that while the opposition could claim that part of its duties was to criticise the government of the day, APC had made it clear that its duty was to pull down the Jonathan government.
He recalled that when the bombing in Nyanya, Abuja, occurred and followed by the abduction of the girls at Chibok, the president called a Special National Security Council meeting.
He said that Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, who spoke on behalf of APC at the meeting made it clear that the party had resolved in an earlier meeting that terrorism was an issue that was above partisanship.
The governor, according to Abati, had said that APC resolved that the issue of terrorism required a bipartisan approach and that everyone involved must rise above partisanship.
“Since that meeting, we have not seen any evidence either from the party or the leaders of the party that the APC meant what its members at that security meeting said,” he said.
Abati also faulted the opposition’s claim that the president was against talking about his administration in the efforts at fighting terrorism.
“In his statement to the BringBackOurGirls campaigners in Abuja, he said that they should be united against terrorism and Boko Haram.
“That was his message.
“He was not abdicating responsibility.
“He was not saying they should not talk about government responsibility and talk only about Boko Haram,” he said.
Abati also berated the opposition party on its position on campaign for the 2015 presidential elections.
“If you look at that statement, you will see that it is as if Lai Muhammed is under pressure because of campaign because he kept mentioning campaigns.
“To the best of our knowledge, INEC has not yet blown the whistle for campaigns. So, why is Lai Muhammed and his APC so bothered about campaigns.
“In any case, the PDP has not been doing any campaigns. What the PDP has been organising are unity rallies.
“If he was referring to the election in Ekiti, it is a matter of public record that the PDP cancelled its planned rally for his governorship candidate in Ekiti.
“It was APC that is trying to be holier than thou that went ahead and organised a big rally on a day after the explosion in Jos,” he said.
Abati berated the APC and its spokesman, Mohammed for accusing the President of incompetence and corruption without any evidence to back it up.
He accused the APC spokesman of lacking the capability to query the president’s competence.
“People who have never run a poultry are grandstanding about running a country. Lai Muhammed is not in the position to talk about competence,’’ Abati said.
