THE United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has expressed outrage at the exclusion of Nigeria and India in the latest designations of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPCs) under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), by the US Department of State.
In its 2022 Annual Report in April, USCIRF recommended re-designation of the 10 CPC countries, and also recommended CPC designation for Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria and Vietnam.
USCIRF’s chair Nury Turkel said in a statement that there was no justification for turning a blind eye to both countries’ particularly severe religious freedom violations, which clearly meet the legal standards for designation as CPCs.
“USCIRF is tremendously disappointed that the Secretary of State did not implement our recommendations and recognize the severity of the religious freedom violations that both USCIRF and the State Department have documented in those countries,” Turkel said.
He added: “The State Department’s own reporting includes numerous examples of particularly severe religious freedom violations in Nigeria and India.”
Pursuant to IRFA, the State Department re-designated 10 countries as CPCs. The countries are: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
The State Department also added Cuba and Nicaragua to its CPC list, which had previously been on the Department’s Special Watch List (SWL).
Since the issuance of its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF said it has consistently shared its recommendations with the U.S. Department of State and Congress.
ON Monday, December 5, a viral video shared by The Nation Newspaper claimed that a former presidential aide to Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, was campaigning in support of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate for the 2023 election.
Omokri is a vocal supporter and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The 25-second footage appeared on the heel of Tinubu’s appearance at the Chatham House in the United Kingdom.
The APC candidate had visited, alongside his loyalists, including the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam El Rufai, to deliver a lecture on security, economy and foreign policy ahead of next year’s poll.
Tinubu, a two-term former Governor of Lagos State, also utilised the platform to speak on his vision, policies and personal issues, such as his actual age, which had been under contention.
As of the time of filing this piece, the visual has garnered over 4 000 views and multiple reactions.
Reno Omokri, PDP loyalist campaigns for Tinubu at Chatham House
The Findings:
Findings show the claim is False
The Chatham House is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. The group, also recognised as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, has become a place most presidential political candidates visit to showcase their agenda, especially as they get close to the election period.
Meanwhile, an analysis of the video showed that contrary to the claim, Reno was actually using derogatory words against Tinubu in protest.
Research showed there were two camps around the Chatham House, a camp loyal to Tinubu, and Reno’s Camp.
Reno Omokri during the protest at the Chatham House on Monday, December 5, 2022.
Armed with a megaphone, Reno had earlier displayed a placard with an inscription – “No To a Drug Baron in Aso Rock.” A fellow protester was with another placard with the inscription – “Nigerians Reject Bola Escobar And His Heroin Cartel.”
In a separate video of about 39 seconds in the same area, Omokri and his team yelled – ‘Tinubu Ole’, which means “Tinubu is a thief.”
However, due to the rival groups’ proximity in the controversial footage, Pro-Tinubu supporters would rather end Omokri’s chanting with Tinubu – for president.
The Verdict
As of when the claim was made, Omokri’s pinned tweet showed the PDP supporter was demonstrating against the APC presidential candidate, also validated by a-52-second video.
Thus, contrary to the claim, photographs, placards and videos from the same incident revealed Reno was protesting against Tinubu and not in support. The claim is, therefore, False.
BEING her first pregnancy, 24-year-old Adedera Tosin did not envisage the complications that almost took her life and her 6-months unborn baby on the night of June 16, 2019, at a Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) in Ekiti state.
She said she had just finished preparing dinner for her family when she started feeling uneasy and a sharp pain in her stomach.
With the help of her 50-year-old mother and concerned neighbours, Tosin was quickly taken to Model Primary Centre, Igbara Odo Ekiti, where she had registered for antenatal care but was shocked to be told she could not be attended because there was no available medical staff qualified to take delivery.
Speaking with The ICIR, Oluwatosin’s mother, Blessing Adedara, one of the community chiefs, recalled the series of incidents that played out that night.
Adedera said she had to start looking for a vehicle that night to convey her child in a more than an hour journey to a different hospital in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
“That night, my daughter suddenly developed a complication, and we rushed her to the maternity centre. But when we got there, they checked her card and asked us to come on the date she had been given. That is how I rushed her to Ado late in the night. Is this supposed to be so? They are meant to attend to us at any time, even if it is at midnight,” she said.
She lamented that a shortage of personnel at the health centre made it difficult for staff to attend to patients who visit the hospital without appointments, even in emergencies.
Adedara Blessing, resident of Igbara Odo
“If a pregnant woman needs any medical attention outside the date given to her, they will not attend to her. They will ask her to come back on her appointment date. For example, they can ask them to come back after a month. What if something happens between those dates? That is why some people prefer to register at Ado-Ekiti or Ilawe.
“When it’s very critical, we don’t take people to any health centre here. If they can’t attend to them here, we quickly take them to Ado or any other place,” Adedera explained.
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages through affordable and prompt healthcare delivery is one of the commitments of the United Nations’ sustainable development goal (SDG). The goal also aims at reducing maternal and neonatal mortality and other avoidable deaths globally. But this important and noble goal has almost become elusive to residents of Igbara Odo, who have been at the receiving end of one of the town’s abandoned and deplorable primary health centres.
Dirty and abandoned table
Located in the South West Local Government Area, Ekiti state, Igbara-Odo, is a suburban and agrarian community of more than 30,000 residents, according to the census to 2006 census figures.
Abandoned and dirty consulting table
Model Health Centre is among the three public health facilities in the town. It was built by the federal government and handed over to the state government in 2010.
When this reporter visited the facility in September 2022, he met and saw two nurses who would not allow him to take pictures of the facility for fear of being queried and losing their jobs. But this reporter would later return to the facility to see patients’ rooms overtaken by dust, cobwebs, insects and birds.
Dirty and abandoned pillows and toilets
In one of the rooms, patients’ beds lay dirty and uncovered. Aside from the laboratory, which appeared like an abandoned kitchen, the dust-covered consultation rooms seemed to have not been used in a very long time.
Dirty and abandoned medical equipment
On the outside, some parts of the building had developed obvious and dangerous cracks that could endanger the life of health workers and patients. While some windows were broken, their wooden nets were rusty and dusty. Behind the building, empty and improperly disposed bottles of medicines and vaccines litter the ground. The only water source for the facility is a hand-dug well, as the borehole, which was supposed to give water to the facility, has spoilt.
Dirty and abandoned beddings
One of the nurses, who would not want her name to be mentioned because of victimisation, told the The ICIR that three nurses are managing the health centre, which does not have any cleaner and gardener.
The nurse complained that the three nurses staffing the facility since 2013 are the ones who tidy it up. The community also sends people to sometimes clear surrounding bushes within and outside the building.
The nurse also noted that residents no longer patronise the facility due to the neglected and abandoned nature of the place, adding that the centre is only used to administer immunisation.
The nurse pleaded with relevant authorities to take necessary steps to make the facility conducive and clean for staff and patients.
Residents travel kilometres in emergency cases
Some of the residents interviewed by this reporter said they had now resorted to leaving the town to other places like Ado-Ekiti and neighbouring towns to access proper health care.
Like Blessing, Monday Nnamdi’s friend’s son nearly lost his life in May 2021. It was a Friday afternoon, and the boy had just returned from school. First, he began to shiver and not long after, he was on the floor unconscious.
He was rushed to the health centre, only about ten houses away from their residence but didn’t meet any health officials on the ground.
Monday Nnamdi, Igbara Odo resident
Nnamdi said the child had to be quickly taken to Saint Mary Catholic Hospital, the only mission-owned and private health centre in the community, for medical attention.
“We didn’t see anybody. We had to rush straight to Saint Mary Catholic Hospital. There, someone attended to us. That is why I said I prefer going to the private health centre,” he said.
A cocoa farmer, Anitiedeth Ubit, whose house is beside the health centre, had been living in the community for 20 years. Despite his house’s proximity to the facility, he prefers to visit other health centres.
“For me, instead of carrying my child there, to be praying to God for healing is better because that place is not useful at all. On many occasions, if they bring patients there, they will say, ‘go to a place to bring paracetamol’. Because of that, people do not like to go there. Even small children like this, people don’t take them there.
“It is even recently that they started cleaning the place. Before now, the place was overtaken by weed. The staff don’t take care of the place. I’ve been in this town for over 20 years. Although my house is closer to this hospital, my wife did not deliver any of my children there.
Anitiedeth Ubit, Resident of Igbara Odo
“If government employs new workers and then prays for the place very well, it could become good again,” he told The ICIR.
A nephew to the king of Igbara-Odo, Banji Olowokakoko, had a similar view.
Banji Olowokakoko, the King’s Nephew
He said, “We don’t like to use the place. Those that are working there are not serious with us. You can get there, and they will not attend to you. That is why people prefer to go to Ado or Ilawe.
“There was even a time about four years ago that a woman was taken to the health centre. But due to inefficient services in the hospital, the woman gave up.”
Community speaks
The town’s paramount traditional ruler, Edward Jayeola, complained that the health centre has been abandoned in its current state for more than 5-years to the detriment of residents living in the town.
Rather than equipping and employing more professional hands to manage the existing health facilities in the town, the king lamented that the government had built two additional unused and unequipped health centres in the town.
He said his subjects have resorted to self-help, including taking local herbs popularly referred to as “agbo” in Yoruba and travelling several kilometres outside the town to meet some of their medical needs and emergencies.
He pleaded with the state government to focus on equipping and employing more hands for the existing worn-out health facilities before building new ones in the town.
“We don’t need the two hospitals we were given, to be honest,” he said.
“We have three already that need more staff and better equipment. Yet, they built two more.”
State blames the federal government
In an interview with The ICIR, the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), Gilbert Seluwa, who is also from Igbara-Odo, blamed the federal government for the poor state of the primary health centre in the community.
Seluwa said that without consulting with the state and the agency, the federal government, built that particular health centre and several others across the state in 2010.
“This health centre was built by the federal government 15 years ago without consulting the state government,” he said.
“They awarded them to contractors who did shoddy jobs. The state government and the agency were not carried along when they were built.”
The Basic Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) was enacted in the National Health Act (NHAct) by the Nigerian government in 2014 but was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari and appropriated for the first time in the 2018 budget.
The NHAct sets out the important drivers to guide the disbursement of the BHCPF. These “Payment Gateways” are in three-fold, and the Act states that 50 per cent (one-half) of the Fund shall be disbursed through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and deployed towards the provision of the Basic Minimum Package Health Scheme (BMPHS) in eligible primary or secondary health care facilities.
Forty-five per cent of the Fund is meant to be disbursed through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and deployed to strengthen Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in eligible PHC facilities for the provision of essential drugs, vaccines, and consumables; provision and maintenance of facilities, equipment and transport; and development of human resources: while five per cent shall be disbursed through a committee appointed by the National Council on Health (NCH) and deployed towards emergency medical treatment.
Current contributions into the basket fund of the BHCPF include N86 billion, of which about N56 billion has been disbursed to states as of June 2022, the secretary of the oversight committee of the Federal Ministry of Health, Chris Isokpunwu, disclosed.
To access the Fund, a section of the Act clarifies that states have to pay 25 per cent, while the federal government pays 75 per cent.
Although the state could only access the funds in 2020, Seluwa stated that the Modern Primary Health Care in Igbara-Odo could not be captured under the scheme due to the state government’s one health centre per ward policy.
While expressing hope that the health centre could be captured in the next batch of the BHCPF, he lamented that the state was not financially buoyant enough to repair the more than 350 dilapidated health centres in the state.
This report is part of a collaborative investigative series by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), HumAngle, NPO Reports and TheCable, facilitated by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under its Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability (CMEDIA) project, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
HEAVY security presence was observed despite a low turnout of passengers as the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) resumed operation on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line on Monday, December 5.
The resumption is coming 251 days after the Federal Government announcement of the suspension of the Abuja-Kaduna route following an attack by Boko Haram terrorists on a moving passenger train in Kaduna on March 28.
Insurgents blew up the rail track and bombed the moving train, killing some passengers. About 60 passengers were abducted.
The ICIR observed during a visit to the train station on Monday that despite the poor turnout of passengers, there was a heavy presence of security personnel.
Some passengers who spoke with The ICIR expressed excitement and relief that the train service is coming back on track.
However, they tasked the government to do more in alleviating the fears that have been created by the bandit attack.
Paul Eshiemomoh, a passenger who spoke with The ICIR urged the government to be proactive as the bandits are very sophisticated.
“I expected air surveillance, like military helicopters and deployment of satellites to comb the forest as they should be able to learn from the last experience. Confidence hasn’t been boosted well enough”, he said.
“The government must not always profit from every bad happening. How many Nigerians can afford the fare considering the N30,000 minimum wage? It is the greatest violence that has been done to the masses”, he lamented.
Reacting also, Chimaobi Ifeanyi, a regular user of the train service, said the only visible change since the incident is the security which he believes can be tighter at the entrance, and the easy access to tickets compared to other days.
Chimaobi Ifeanyi
He hopes that there will be a downward review of the ticket price, especially for the economy class as many Nigerians can afford it.
Aisha Musa, another passenger who spoke with The ICIR said she was optimistic and confident that with the level of security measures put in place, ‘nothing bad will happen.
A passenger at ticketing counter
The ICIR found out that the VIP tickets now sell for 6,500, and the regular ticket is sold for 3,600. Passengers also have to provide their National Identity Number (NIN).
In an interview with The ICIR, Deputy Director, of Operations of the NRC, Akin Osinowo, assured Nigerians of safety as the Federal Ministry of Transportation, in conjunction with the Corporation, has been working extensively to completely revamp the security architecture.
Deputy Director, of Operations of the NRC, Akin Osinowo
According to him, the Federal Government have been working very hard to ensure that the traumatic incident is averted, adding that measures aimed at ensuring and assuring that the safety and comfort of the traveling public are preserved have been put in place.
“There has been a lot of work, extensive work in terms of security architecture, which we have completely revamped.
“We have enhanced technology, we have enhanced manpower and we have also enhanced intelligence.
“If you are not working for NRC, if you are not traveling, you don’t have work here, you can’t even get into the hall.
“Previously, families could get into the hall, but unfortunately, we have to stop all that as there are a lot of restrictions around sensitive areas that people can’t go into except you have special clearance.
“If you go into those areas, you are properly profiled. Every porter, every cleaner, and every worker that has access to our infrastructure, our buildings, and our boarding areas is profiled. That is how thorough we are in ensuring people’s safety,” he said.
Commenting on the cost of the ticket, he admitted that even though it has gone up, it is still heavily subsidized as the government has tried to cushion the effect of inflation, which he said is a worldwide phenomenon.
MILLIONS of children globally are facing the most humanitarian needs since the end of the Second World War, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, December 5.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stated this at the launch of the agency’s humanitarian action for children appeal for 2023.
Russell said more than 400 million children lived in areas under conflict worldwide.
“An estimated one billion children – nearly half the world’s children – living in countries at extreme vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
“At least 36.5 million children displaced from their homes – the highest number ever recorded. And eight million children under five across 15 crisis-hit countries at risk of death from severe wasting.”
Through donations, UNICEF reaches millions of children in crisis yearly, supporting their health, education and providing essential needs.
The agency noted that children worldwide faced a confluence of crises – from violence and displacement to infectious disease outbreaks and soaring malnutrition rates.
It also decried that climate change effects compounded the severity of the crises and unleashed new ones.
“Just this year, we have seen a wave of deadly climate-linked disasters, including catastrophic floods in Pakistan, historic drought in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, and blistering heat waves across parts of Europe, the Middle East and North America.
“And it is children who are bearing the brunt, with millions struggling to survive. The numbers are deeply troubling.”
Russell told the story of a boy she met recently at Ituri Province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – an area hard-hit by conflict and attacks on civilians.
She visited a camp sheltering people who had been displaced by the violence at the camp.
Among the 36,000 children seeking safety was a 14-year-old boy named Blukwa.
Several months before, Blukwa had narrowly escaped being killed in a massacre of civilians in a nearby village.
During the attack, the boy witnessed the decapitation of his best friend – a horror so extreme that he wished he had died as well, Russell said.
“When we met, Blukwa was confronted with an uncertain future – displaced from his home, deeply traumatized, and with limited access to adequate nutrition, care and essential services.”
Consequently, the UN Chief opined that no child should ever experience such tragedy, trauma and acute deprivation, though more children need humanitarian assistance than at any other time since the Second World War.
She urged countries to remember that national borders do not bind humanitarian emergencies, adding that conflict and crisis in one part of the world could impact the lives of children thousands of miles away.
“But the situation is not hopeless. We know how to reach children at the greatest risk and need. With support from you – our partners – we have risen to the challenge before. We can, and we must, do it again.
“From Afghanistan to Somalia, from the Sahel to Yemen – UNICEF is on the ground in countries around the world, providing children with lifesaving assistance during humanitarian emergencies.
“We are strengthening the systems that children rely on – like health care, protection, water and sanitation – and making those systems more resilient to climate shocks. And we are working to anticipate crises so that we are more prepared to meet children’s needs as emergencies unfold.”
Quoting Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s late former leader, Russell said there could be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than how it treated its children.
She promised that by working with donors, the agency would reach the most vulnerable children, children suffering from malnutrition because of drought and children at risk of cholera and other infectious diseases.
FORMER Governor of Lagos state and presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, on Monday, December 5, unveiled some of his strategies to fix the Nigerian economy and revive key sectors like defense, education and technology.
Tinubu, who spoke during an appearance at Chatham House in London, the United Kingdom, told his audience that he would prioritise education by providing student loans and reforming the Almajiri educational system practiced in Northern Nigeria.
“There will be student loans. We are going to reform the Almajiri system. We’ll equally build more schools, recruit more teachers and train them,” Tinubu said.
He added that his government will also introduce technology hubs for youths to acquire digital skills. “Youths can even develop technological languages on their own and make a better 21st-century approach to governance in Nigeria,” Tinubu said.
However, during the Question and Answers (Q&A) session that followed his address, Tinubu delegated some of his allies to respond on his behalf.
Some of those who answered questions on Tinubu’s behalf include the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai; former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; APC national women’s leader, Dr Betta Edu; former Commissioner for Finance in Lagos, Wale Edun; and the Director of Strategic Communication of the APC Presidential Campaign Council Dele Aleke, amongst others.
According to the former governor of Lagos State, he adopted the delegation method “to show the team and the capacity that we have”.
El-Rufai answered questions on security, saying banditry, terrorism, separatism, and oil theft require a new approach including increasing the number of security operatives.
“The numbers must change and the Bola Tinubu administration already has a blueprint which is embedded in our action plan to address this. We will scale up the numbers of the armed forces. We’ll ramp up not only the numbers but the training and the equipment,” the Kaduna governor said.
Gbajabiamila also responded to a question on the strategies of Tinubu on defence, while the APC national women’s leader answered a question on healthcare delivery, amongst others.
Aleke, on his part, answered question on how Tinubu plans to lift Nigerians out of poverty if elected. “The key to his policy for increasing economic growth is to enable the private sector to make the investment that will increase productivity, grow the economy, create the jobs, and reduce poverty,” he said.
FORMER presidential aide Reno Omokri on Monday led a protest aimed at harassing All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu out of London.
Tinubu addressed the British Royal Institute on the 2023 general elections, focusing on national security, economic and foreign policy imperatives.
However, Omokri claimed he led a protest that disgraced Tinubu such that he could not step out of his vehicle and had to “run away”.
Tweeting about the protest on Monday, he wrote: “Tinubu will never forget the protest we just pulled off at Chatham House. He was disgraced and could not get out of his car. He had to run away. The #HarassTinubuOutofLondon Protest Against Drug Lord Tinubu at Chatham House was a resounding success! We shook the drug lord Asiwaju”.
However, some Nigerians were quick to spot the message on one of the placards which showed support for Tinubu, and have called him out.
@Tony_OBG tweeted: “Little double-edged protest you carried out with a few number of people literally showed how disorganized, mischievous and confused that you are. The banners held by participants were in favour of Tinubu. How come you still rally for Atiku. @renoomokri pick a side.”
Another user. Kunle Gazali Sefiu commented: “You were seriously disgraced, they killed your negative intention and overshadowed you and your paymaster”.
However, The ICIR gathered that Tinubu addressed the British Royal Institute.
The secessionist group also dissociated itself and its security outfit, Eastern Security Network (ESN), from attacks on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Imo State and other parts of the South-East.
IPOB, in the statement, advised security agencies to stop linking it with “senseless” attacks on INEC facilities.
The pro-Biafra movement warned anybody engaging in the destruction of INEC facilities and pretending to be doing so on its behalf to desist from such acts.
“Eastern Security Network (ESN) operatives never attacked the INEC office because we are not interested in this Nigeria’s forthcoming election in 2023. Anyone or group blaming IPOB or ESN for any attack on INEC facilities is under the influence of some powerful drugs.
“IPOB will not spare anybody using our name to disrupt election, and nobody should link us with those who are destroying election materials,” the group said.
The statement further accused security agencies of hoarding information about the true identities of those behind the attacks on INEC facilities.
It claimed government agencies and those attacking INEC facilities are working together to blackmail the organisation.
“That is why the same security agencies have never arrested any so-called attackers.
“Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has said it several times that he has not asked anyone to carry out any attack on his behalf. Therefore, nobody should link us with the attack on INEC offices.”
The statement noted that IPOB is a civilized and disciplined independence movement.
“We are not criminals, nor are we part of their election thugs.”
The statement accused politicians of recruiting criminals and hoodlums to attack election facilities and blame such on IPOB and ESN.
However, the statement further stressed that no amount of sponsored blackmail against IPOB would stop the agitation for Biafra restoration, adding that it would instead fuel the struggle.
According to the statement, the desperation to link IPOB with attacks on INEC is part of the grand plan by those opposed to Biafra restoration to truncate the project.
Armed persons on Sunday attacked the INEC office in Oru West Local Government Area of Imo State, making it the seventh attack on the Commission’s facilities within the last four months.
The attack in Oru West occurred three days after another INEC office was attacked in the Orlu Local Government Area of the same Imo State.
Meanwhile, the police in Imo State said gunmen suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing Eastern Security Network (ESN) were responsible for the attack on the Oru West office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The state police spokesperson Mike Abattam said in Owerri on Sunday, December 4, that the operatives on duty repelled the attack.
Abattam said the gunmen threw Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) into the office from outside the fence.
“The police operatives who engaged the hoodlums professionally inflicted various degrees of injuries on them. Having suffered a huge defeat, the hoodlums retreated, escaping in their vehicle and were given a hot chase by the operatives.”
Attacks on INEC’s offices and facilities have increased in recent weeks.
“What we are saying is that if you want to use primary schools or secondary schools apply so that when you dirty (sic) or destroy the place government can come and clean it.
“We are not saying that you are not entitled to use the place for rallies – dare us we will tell you that we are in charge of Rivers State.
“I have told PDP, you must apply and pay the money and we will allow you to use the place.
“You cannot tell me to allow you to hold a rally and when you destroy the place you will criticize the government,” the governor said.
Wike, who has been engaged in a face-off with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, insisted that the G5 governors will not be disrespected.
“What I want to tell the PDP presidential candidate is that we need peace in Rivers State
“We cannot allow any member of the PDP campaign council to insult the members of G5.”
THE Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has said that presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, is not aware of the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration because he lives in Dubai.
Atiku, had, during his campaign in Akure, Ondo State, said the Buhari government has not done anything for Nigerians in its eight years in office.
Mohammed reacted to Atiku’s comments while speaking at the seventh edition of the presidential scorecard series in Abuja on Monday, December 5.
The minister said, “During his recent campaign in Akure, the former VP was quoted as saying the APC had not done anything for Nigeria in eight years.
“What a preposterous statement from somebody who should know. I guess we can excuse His Excellency the former vice-president who, until recently, had fully relocated to Dubai, thus losing touch with Nigeria.”
Mohammed claimed the Buhari administration has brought peace and stability to different parts of Nigeria, including Adamawa, Atiku’s state.
He said, “Before this administration came into office, all the five local government areas in Adamawa’s Northern Senatorial District were effectively under the control of the Boko Haram terrorists.
“All state institutions, the local government administration, the police, the judiciary, schools, hospitals and markets had been sacked. Today, not an inch of these local governments in Adamawa, the home state of the former vice-president, is under the control of terrorists.
“All institutions of state have relocated back and are operational. All emirs and chiefs have returned to their palaces.
“You can also see the irony of someone who held the number two position in the country for all of eight years but could not positively impact on his own hometown, state or region now condemning an administration that has made it possible for him to even access his hometown — anytime he flies in from his new hometown of Dubai!”
The minister stressed that Atiku and his party, the PDP, have no moral justification to criticize the APC administration headed by Buhari.
