By Chuks Okocha
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said the statement made by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Lai Mohammed, that the federal government is not duty-bound to protect Nigerians from bandits, has confirmed apprehensions that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Mohammadu Buhari presidency have finally surrendered Nigeria to terrorists.
The party called on President Buhari to personally address Nigerians in his own voice and not through his aides.
The PDP further stressed that the statement made by the minister is another clear evidence that Buhari is indeed absent; has completely abdicated the responsibilities of his office and capitulated to bandits.
“Lai Mohammed’s statement further revealed that the Buhari presidency has not been committed to combating banditry, but had, all along, been feeding Nigerians with lies, propaganda and falsehood, while bandits are pillaging our country,” the party said.
According to a statement issued by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said it is incredulous that the Buhari presidency, in its failures, is abdicating a responsibility exclusively vested on it by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to operate all apparatus of national security-the police, military, paramilitary and all other armed services-to secure lives and property in all parts of the country.
The PDP said: “Perhaps Buhari and his minister of information need to be tutored that the Second Schedule (Exclusive Legislative List) clearly vested the control of all apparatus of national security on the federal government and not the states.
“Items 2, 28, 38, 45, 57 of the Exclusive List are clear in vesting the operation of the police, the military and other armed services; the control of arms and ammunition as well as criminal records among other statutory paraphernalia of national security on the federal government and not the state.”
He explained that the APC and the Buhari presidency need to be tutored that bandits and kidnappers are terrorists, and that in line with the provisions of the constitution, the agencies vested with the statutory responsibility of protecting Nigerians from such outlaws are under the control of the federal government.
According to Ologbondiyan, “It is unthinkable that President Buhari, who promised to lead from the front, is now running away from duty while seeking to heap the burden of his office on the states, which do not have control of security agencies.”
Moreover, the PDP said the fact that a cabinet minister in the shade of Mohammed is left to address this critical aspect of the national security that is vested on the president, shows that the country is plagued by presidential absenteeism and a dysfunctional command structure.
The party said such situation never occurred under the PDP administration.
The spokesperson of the PDP said: “Now that President Buhari and the APC-led federal government can no longer guarantee the safety of lives and property, the only way out is for the National Assembly to immediately amend the constitution and establish state police to guarantee the security of Nigerians as already recommended by the PDP.”
The opposition party called on President Buhari to come out of hiding and address the country in his own voice on the worsening insecurity in the country, occasioned by his misrule.
