Chibok: Jonathan cant deny rejecting Britain’s help, corruption -APC
Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress has accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of habitual negligence on state matters while in office.
The party said Jonathan needed not to deny the fact that he rejected the help of the former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in rescuing the 276 Chibok schoolgirls, who were kidnapped on April 14, 2014.
The National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, stated this in response to a new book by Jonathan, ‘For the Record’, in which the former president also denied the allegation of corruption against his government.
The statement said, “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 unraveling.”
The APC said what was important was for Jonathan to explain to the families of the abducted schoolgirls why as president, he did nothing for two weeks after the Chibok abductions and still refused to take responsibility for the tragedy up till now.
The party wondered why the former president had continued to blame the Chibok abductions and other failings of his administration on the 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. 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.”
– PUNCH
