The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has praised President Muhammadu Buhari over the release of 21 of the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State two years ago.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has praised President Muhammadu Buhari over the release of 21 of the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State two years ago.
It said the feat is a fulfilment of Buhari’s campaign promise to secure the release of the girls and reunite them with their families.
It urged the President to ignore Governor Ayodele Fayose’s “insincere and infantile” comments on the abduction of the girls, explaining that “the governor is on his own in his reckless criticisms of the Federal Government over fears of repercussions on his ceaseless infractions on the law”.
Fayose has been persistent in his claim that no Chibok girls were missing, saying that the Federal Government’s claim on their rescue was a distraction from the harsh economic reality in the country. But reacting in a statement in Ado-Ekiti, Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, praised the President for keeping his electoral promise to rescue the girls.
He urged the President to intensify efforts to secure the release of the remaining girls still in captivity.
Berating Fayose for choosing to make himself a “lone enemy” of the President, Olatunbosun said: “It is unfortunate that the governor of a state known for decency and honour could utter such a horrible statement over a very sensitive national issue that borders on the lives of young school girls whose parents have been in agony in the last two years.
“Nigerians know that Fayose is a reckless talkative who plays politics with everything and anything but never in their imagination think he can be so heartless to say the girls were not missing.
“Now that the 21 girls were shown live on TV being reunited with their parents in an emotional ceremony, will Fayose still say it was stage-managed?
“Fayose is taking his pound of flesh from the Federal Government for his several infractions on the law over which federal agencies are investigating him and he believes that the best way to blackmail the Federal Government is ceaseless criticism so that he can accuse Buhari of witch-hunt when eventually the law beckons to account for his lawless conducts.”
While apologising to the parents of the girls and urging them to take Fayose for “who he is”, Olatunbosun regretted the governor’s “callous disposition” to the plight of the children and their parents, wondering if Fayose would have taken the same position if the girls were his daughters.
“APC, on behalf of the good people of Ekiti State, wishes to apologise to Nigerians, especially the agonised parents of the Chibok girls, over the insensitive outburst of Governor Fayose.
“Ekiti people are humane, decent and responsible people and the position of Fayose on the matter does not represent the collective position of Ekiti people on the missing Chibok girls.
“It is now crystal clear that Fayose is one of those who misled President Jonathan on the issue of the missing Chibok girls by insisting that the girls were not missing.
He is jittery now that all the lies told by the Jonathan administration that the Chibok girls were not missing are exposed. “We wonder if Fayose would have taken the same position if his daughters were among the missing girls,” he said.
Slamming Fayose for “always employing lies to cause social discontent to set Nigerians against the Federal Government in order to bring Buhari’s administration down, Olatunbosun said APC had been vindicated on its several warnings to Nigerians that “Fayose is a dangerous and pathological liar whose conduct is a threat to our democracy”.
“How else can we describe a governor who is always seeing black even when it is glaring to all that the true colour is white?” he queried, imploring Buhari to ignore Fayose’s tantrums and remain focused on securing the release of the remaining Chibok girls still in captivity while also continuing making efforts towards Nigeria’s economic recovery.
