The Presidency on Saturday reacted sharply to a
memo written by Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State to his colleague
Northern governors, describing it as “an unmitigated leadership disaster and a
sad betrayal of trust by a major beneficiary of the Nigerian
nation.”
Nyako had in the memo accused the Federal Government under
President Goodluck Jonathan’s watch as carrying out genocide against northern
states with impunity.
Bu the Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in a statement said the content of the
governor’s letter exposed him as lacking a sense of history.
Okupe said
the memo further portrayed the governor as incapable of rising above parochial
sentiments and possessing a morbid hatred for facts and truth in public
discourse.
While describing the memo as extremely divisive, the
presidential spokesman said it was intentionally meant to incite one section of
the country against the other.
The statement read, “Governor Nyako claims
that President Goodluck Jonathan is from the Eastern region which according to
him was responsible for the killing of Northern political elites on the 15th of
January 1966!
“This is a very disgraceful remark by the governor and a
pathetic embarrassment to the Nigerian Military from where Nyako derives his
career antecedents. It is certainly a reflection of the Governors ignorance and
unpatriotic inclinations.
“Similarly, the Adamawa state governor referred
to the Boko Haram terrorist group as a ‘phantom organization’ which he believes
does not exist! How hypocritical!?
“In his unwise and desperate attempt
to demonise the Federal Government, Governor Nyako likened the military
operations against insurgents to the activities of German dictator, Adolf
Hitler!
“In his befuddled mind and apparent hallucination, the Federal
Government should be held responsible for the activities of insurgents in the
North East and the sad killings,wanton destruction, murder and kidnapping of
school children as well as other horrendous activities of Boko Haram should be
hung on the neck of the Federal Government!
“He therefore invited his
colleague northern governors to join him to sue the Federal Government. This
definitely defies common sense and portrays Mr Nyako as unfit for the hallowed
position of a State Governor.”
Okupe requested Nyako to publish his
yearly budget for the past five years and disclose how much has been voted or
spent to support the war on terror or assist victims of insurgents activities in
his state.
He recalled that the governor was publicly attacked recently
by a group of angry youths who accused him of nonchalance and failure to support
victims of Boko Haram’s murderous onslaught on innocent citizens of the
state.
He also recalled that the same governor was recently quoted as
having boasted openly that now that the Fulani herdsman can assemble the AK47
gun, the security equilibrium in the country is now balanced.
He claimed
that the same man was reported to have imported some fulanis from outside the
country and spent millions of naira in rehabilitating, feeding, housing and
catering for their welfare.
Okupe therefore urged Nigerians to ignore the
letter which he described as senseless letter.
He said the ignoble aim of
the letter was to create disaffection among Nigerians, polarise the country
along ethnic lines and unkindly disparage the present administration which
continues to work hard to fully eliminate insurgency and destroy their support
base.
“It is obvious that Governor Nyako’s opposition to the declaration
of a State of Emergency in three affected states of the North East as well as
his repeated calls for the withdrawal of the Military from troubled states
without any credible alternative or security road map, is an open endorsement of
the activities of the insurgents which is meant to provide them unrestricted
opportunity to further unleash terror on innocent citizens in order to
precipitate chaos, further instability, mayhem and anarchy ; a situation which
they intend to exploit to undermine the administration and truncate our growing
democracy. This, Nigerians will surely not allow to happen.
“The Federal
Government assures Nigerians of its continuos determination to defeat terror and
restore peace to every part of northern Nigeria so that every law abiding
Nigerian citizen can go about with his/her socio economic pursuit without let or
hindrance in all parts of the country,” the statement added.
Meanwhile,
the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, in an
exclusive interview with our correspondent said it was unfortunate that a
governor would be making such a statement when he knows fully well that the
President has no hand in the insurgency in parts of the country.
Gulak
said Nyako was only telling lies with the aim of pitching the North against the
President.
He said the governor’s plan was to pull the house down just
because he was leaving office in a few months.
He said rather than
castigating the President, the governor should bury his head in shame for
contributing to insurgency.
He said, “The President inherited all these
insurgencies. You know for example that former President Obasanjo declared a
state of emergency in Plateau State. The leader of Boko Haram, Muhammed Yusuf
was arrested and killed during the late President Yar’Adua days. You also know
the crisis that engulfed Kaduna State before President Jonathan came on
board.
“So Nyako knows fully well that he is telling lies. He knows that
he is just pitching the North against the President, forgetting that the North
today is no longer the North of his own time.
“The North is populated by
intelligent people, who are very patriotic and believe in the unity of this
country. It is unfortunate that at his age, Nyako is behaving like a mad cow and
a bull in China house.
“Because he is leaving government in some few
months, Nyako is trying to bring down the whole house. It is unfortunate but I
assure him that all Northerners know that Goodluck Jonathan is trying his best
to curtail the situation.”
Gulak said it was unfortunate that a so-called
governor could come out and denigrate the office of a governor by making
statements that are not verifiable.
He said contrary to the governor’s
claim, Jonathan is a peaceful man that is working round the clock to end
insurgency in the North and kidnapping in the South.
The presidential
aide said people of the state regretted voting Nyako into office.
“If
people like Nyako who are supposed to be chief security officers of their states
have been up and doing in their states, such insurgencies would not have
escalated to this level.
“It is a shame that Nyako as a governor is a
failed governor. Adamawa is becoming a failed states. There is no single project
that touches the lives of people of the state and this is a man who is coming
out to accuse the President.
“Nyako should burry his head in shame. It is
unfortunate that this man is coming from Adamawa State which has always been a
peaceful state.
“We have never had a very disappointing old man like him
in that state. The state is populated by intelligent people like the likes of
Prof. Jubril Aminu, former IG, Gambo Jimetta and others. Nyako is just an odd
person among these intelligent elder statesmen. It is unfortunate, we regret
voting this man into power,” he said.
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