Nigeria’s ruling party, APC, has supported the allegation made by a former British prime minister, David Cameron, against former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan.
Mr Cameron in his new book, For the Record, condemned Mr Jonathan’s handling of the kidnap of over 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in 2014. He said the then Nigerian president was “sleeping on the wheel” while the terrorists struck in Borno.
The former prime minister, apart from alleging that Mr Jonathan’s administration rejected the British offer to help in the rescue of the Chibok girls, also reportedly accused the administration of corruption.
The former prime minister, apart from alleging that Mr Jonathan’s administration rejected the British offer to help in the rescue of the Chibok girls, also reportedly accused the administration of corruption.
PREMIUM TIMES reported Mr Jonathan’s response to the allegation on Saturday.
“It is quite sad that Mr Cameron would say this because nothing of such ever occurred. As President of Nigeria, I not only wrote letters to then Prime Minister David Cameron, I also wrote to the then US President, Barrack Obama, and the then French President, François Hollande, as well as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appealing to them for help in rescuing the Chibok Girls,” Mr Jonathan said in a statement which he published on his Facebook page, Saturday afternoon.
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In its reaction, the APC said Mr Jonathan’s reply notwithstanding, his government failed to act promptly to rescue the kidnapped girls, over 100 of whom are still with the terrorists.
“What is important now is Jonathan explaining to the families of the abducted schoolgirls why as president, he did nothing for two weeks after the Chibok abductions and still refuses to take responsibility for the tragedy up till now — except he continues to blame the Chibok abductions and other failings of his administration on the so-called grand conspiracy against him as he laboriously tries to state in his response to Cameron,” the APC said in a statement by its spokesperson, Lanre Issa-Onilu.
Read the full statement by the APC below.
*Jonathan Need Not Bother Replying Cameron – APC*
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has reacted to and refuted comments by former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in his new book, For the Record, in which the Jonathan administration is accused of corruption and rejecting the help of the British Government in rescuing the 276 Chibok schoolgirls, who were kidnapped on April 14, 2014.
Although Jonathan is entitled to a right of reply, he shouldn’t have bothered about Cameron’s allegations, talk less denying it.
Nigerians already know the story of Jonathan’s habitual negligence to matters of state. The Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction and his “sleeping behind the wheel” is not a story to deny as it is already part of our national history. We may disagree on a number of issues in Nigeria, but there is a national consensus on the fact that PDP elevated corruption to a national culture.
Denying or arguing against the truth is not going to change anything at this stage. The stories of outlandish corrupt practices under the PDP are still unravelling.
What is important now is Jonathan explaining to the families of the abducted schoolgirls why as president, he did nothing for two weeks after the Chibok abductions and still refuses to take responsibility for the tragedy up till now — except he continues to blame the Chibok abductions and other failings of his administration on the so-called grand conspiracy against him as he laboriously tries to state in his response to Cameron.
The current administration’s reactions and actions after the similar and unfortunate Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping is a pointer to how a responsive government should act.
That Jonathan government was corrupt was actually half of the story. The full story is that corruption hallmarked the successive 16 years administrations under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It is shameful that anyone is even defending it. Corruption is PDP’s political ideology. This fact is already cast in stone. Nigerians do not need Cameron or anyone else to tell us how corrupt and ineffectual the PDP era was.
As a consequence, Nigerians voted out the PDP administration in 2015 and elected the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration to clear the mess the 16-year PDP administration left the country. Our resolve to do just that is unshaken.
SIGNED:
*Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu*
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
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