The All Progressives Congress (APC) today told the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that President Goodluck Jonathan is not the first minority to rule Nigeria and will not be the last, hence the frequent resort to his minority ethnicity is nothing but a poorly-veiled attempt to cover up his blatant incompetence, poor leadership and sheer cluelessness.

In a statement issued in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC described as irresponsible, PDP’s claim that the Boko Haram insurgency and other internecine crises in the country are being sponsored by the opposition because the President hails from a minority group.

APC pointed out that First Republic Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa (Sayewa) and military heads of state Yakubu Gowon (Angas) and Sani Abacha (Kanuri) were also from minority ethnic groups, a fact that is lost on the trifling PDP.

Part of the statement said: “PDP has recently been making outlandish statements and accusations that are capable of destabilising Nigeria. In its newfound proclivity for issuing frivolous press statements, the party has forgotten that facts are sacred and cannot be manipulated. But even by its low standard, the PDP has plumbed the depth of irresponsibility with its latest claim.

“President Jonathan’s woes have nothing to do with his minority ethnicity, but the manifestation of his incompetence, cluelessness and inferiority complex, and the fact that he is backed by a greedy, visionless and crooked cabal, both within his government and his party.”

The party said if indeed the PDP believes the opposition is sponsoring Boko Haram “to stop President Jonathan from realising his so-called Transformation Agenda, what prevents the PDP-led Federal Government from instituting a probe into all the incidences so far, and to unravel the sources of the sect’s weapons, as demanded recently by Gov. Murtala Nyako?”

APC said just like ethno-religious crises in Nigeria predate President Jonathan’s assumption of office, the Boko Haram insurgency started in 2002 during the Obasanjo regime, even though it became aggravated in 2009 when then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua ordered a joint security operation, following the killing of over a dozen policemen, and the failure of police action to curb the crisis.

The party said it is public knowledge that the operation led to the killing of an estimated 1,000 alleged Boko Haram members, including the extra-judicial murder of sect leader Muhammed Yusuf, and set the stage for the insurgency that Nigeria is witnessing today.

“Even then, the insurgency that could have been quickly curtailed has worsened under President Jonathan because of his ineffectual leadership. Instead of tackling the insurgency decisively as a well-honed leader would have done, the clueless President and his equally feckless party have resorted to blaming the opposition and everyone but themselves for the worsening of the crisis,” APC stated.

The party said the usual recourse to President Jonathan’s ethnic origin “to cover his glaring non-performance does not impress Nigerians, who are aware that as a minority, Jonathan could not have become President without the votes of the country’s majority ethnic groups – Hausa/Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba.”

Continuing, the party said: “'In any case, if the PDP is arguing that President Jonathan is being ‘persecuted’ because he hails from a minority ethnic group, is it the majority ethnic groups that supposedly voted massively for him that are now persecuting him? And what will be their reasons for persecuting the same man they voted into office?

“The truth is that President Jonathan is overwhelmed by the demands of his office, and his party is more interested in looting the public treasury than assisting him to succeed.

“The President and his party should admit their failure to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigeria and give way to those who are willing and able to perform.”

APC said a country that has no discernible counter-terrorism strategy that will clearly identify the multiple means for preventing, responding and defeating terrorist groups, including the alignment of political, military, social and economic instruments and objectives, cannot expect to successfully battle any insurgency.

•Photo shows President Jonathan.

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