Insecurity: Buhari Should Be Held Responsible – Presidency

The Presidency on Tuesday fell short of attributing the current insurgency in some parts of Northern Nigeria to Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) who it described as a leading protagonist of violence.

Buhari, a former Head of State, while speaking on the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation in London on Monday, said the Federal Government should be blamed for the lingering security challenges in the country.

Reacting to the interview, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said that it was unfortunate that Buhari could make such a statement.

Okupe who described Buhari as a man he holds in high esteem, however added that he had no option but to reply to his accusations against the Federal Government and the President.

Okupe said, “Everybody in this country knows that it was Buhari who vowed that if he did not win the election, he would make the country ungovernable for this President.

“It was this same Buhari, who said during the electioneering period  that if the votes were counted and he lost, people should go for blood.

“He is not in any position to apportion blame on the issue of violence in the North or in Nigeria  in general.

“He is a protagonist of violence. The only solution he sees to his not being President is to call for violence.

“This government has tried to contain some of the repercussions of the unguarded statements made by Buhari and I don’t think anybody in Nigeria will take him seriously on this allegation.”

Okupe wondered why  the Daura State-born general had refused to visit  states like Borno and Yobe despite the fact that he hails from the northern part of the country.

He said, “As a former Head of State, have you ever seen him (Buhari) visiting  Borno or Yobe State? Have you ever seen him  show sympathy to  people , either Christians  or Muslims that have been killed during these attacks (by Boko Haram)?

“Have you see him as a leader, a man who traversed the entire length and breadth of the North especially to canvass for votes seeking an end to the violence; why is it that  he cannot use that same clout that he has to get leaders together and say we must put an end to this carnage?

“He finds it comfortable  to shift the blame to other people. What has he done as a leader, who is from that region to help Nigeria and the North  out of  this unfortunate development?

“Nigerians should ask him, as a former Head of  State  and  stakeholder in the Nigeria project and a man who wants to be President again, if he would want  Nigeria  to be destroyed up to a point  before he  can  try to wade in? It does not work that way.”

Okupe said as a leader, Buhari should go beyond apportioning and do something crucial to bring the carnage in the country under control.

He reminded the Congress for Progressive Change’s national leader that during the crisis in Niger Delta, leaders from the  region went into the creeks and discussed with the militants to lay down their arms.

“Has Buhari done that? When Christians were killed, he kept quiet, when mosques were bombed, he did not say anything. He doesn’t have any other interest in Nigeria  but  his inordinate ambition to rule,” he added.