PDP, Afenifere, ex-minister flay Buhari for admitting IGP’s disobedience

• Why President couldn’t know, by aide
• Arewa youths, others defend Idris

The main opposition, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, and former Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Olu Agunloye, have tackled President Muhammadu Buhari over his remarks on Monday in Makurdi that he was unaware that the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, did not relocate to Benue State in the heat of the killings as ordered by him.

The PDP said the President had inadvertently admitted that he was running an “inept, incompetent, disorganised and uncoordinated administration.” It added that Buhari’s explanation on the IGP was also an admission that he had handed over power to a “cabal that neither sought for votes nor was elected by Nigerians.” 

The party contended that the “President has irredeemably indicted himself and such unpardonable slipshod attitude to governance is directly responsible for his government’s wrecking of the nation’s once robust economy as well as other woes that have befallen our nation in his almost three years in office.”

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) and supporters of the President to take their minds off the Aso Villa ahead of the 2019 elections “now that their leader and sole candidate has practically admitted his incompetence to run an effective government as desired by Nigerians.”

The party criticised the President for trying to pass the buck to the IGP, a development which it said, further exposed “his lack of direct commitment and concern towards the wellbeing and security of Nigerians.”

The statement reads in part: “Nigerians have completely lost hope in President Muhammadu Buhari and his incompetent administration. By stating that he was unaware that the IGP only spent 24 hours in Benue State, Mr. President has confirmed that he has not been effectively monitoring the handling of the security situation of our nation. This places a huge question mark on the regular assurances issued from the Presidency on security. 

“For our party, PDP, the expression of President Buhari has once again vindicated our position that our nation has been placed on autopilot cruise with a cabal pretending to be managing our affairs.

“Indeed, Nigerians need to know what exactly did President Buhari, as the Commander-in-Chief, do when he realised that the IGP did not carry out his orders? We demand a direct answer from the Presidency.”In a statement yesterday, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said only God knows how many instructions the President had given that were never complied with.

The group said: “If Buhari fires the IGP with immediate effect, we can take it that it was because he is detached from governance that made that happen but in the absence of that, it would only mean that Mr. President is just making a political declaration.”

Agunloye, however, called for the emergence of astute managers and forthright leaders to take charge of the nation’s affairs.Meanwhile, the National President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYF), Alhaji Yerima Shettima, has alleged that certain vested interests were after the IGP and determined to set Buhari against him.

In a statement, he argued Idris might not have spent more than 24 hours in Makurdi because of the “open hostility towards him and the President.”However, presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, says his boss was oblivious of the flouting of the order because “ he is not omniscient.”
 
During a programme yesterday in Abuja, he said: “It just tells you that the President is not omniscient. As president and commander-in-chief, he has other channels, but it doesn’t mean that he gets every information under the sun.”

Also, insiders in security circle have maintained that the IGP obeyed the directive by reporting and deploying a special force in Benue.According to them, the President had asked him to focus on the farmers-herders attacks in Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Adamawa and Kaduna states.

According to a security analyst and former Director of the State Security Services (DSS), Mr. Mike Ejiofor, the IGP’s actions were realistic. He said that the DIG Operations remained in Benue to coordinate police activities in the area, while the IGP was away in Nasarawa.Others also argued that the IGP couldn’t have sat down in Makurdi, because the capital was not the trouble spot.