From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu, has berated President Buhari over his stance on state police.
A statement from Dr. Ayu’s Media Office quoted the PDP national chairman as declaring that “it appears the continued killings in some localities of Nigeria, particularly in the North, and more specifically in President Buhari’s home state of Katsina, may not matter to him with his statement that state police is not an option.”
He also slammed the president for pushing the blame for the incessant killing of farmers by terrorists on locals along grazing routes.
The statement which Dr. Ayu personally signed, read: “Watching President Muhammadu Buhari this evening on Channels TV during an interview session was a gratuitous waste of time because there was nothing new coming from the President.
“As has been said by many before now, to expect anything new from our President would be a misplaced and unfortunate expectation.
“From the economy, to insecurity, killing of innocent farmers by terrorists (which some erroneously term farmer/herder clashes) and other sundry issues, President Buhari honoured his calling as a President who has nothing new to offer.
“He again repeated the impotent argument regarding killing of farmers by terrorists, reminding Nigerians of grazing routes.
“Well, what the president failed to reference is that the herders plying the grazing routes before, neither carried AK47s nor did they engage in raping of women and despoilation of the assets of those along the routes.
“Mr. President’s position of saying the locals should be asked what went wrong, flies in the face of reason and contemporary realities.
“Tied to that but not limited in scope is the issue of insecurity and a re-organisation of the Nigeria Police to accommodate present, peculiar, environmental and social challenges.
“In President Buhari’s view, State Police is not an option. Yet, it appears the continued killings in some localities of Nigeria, particularly in the North, and more specifically in his home state of Katsina, may not matter, hence, the need to have a security system that feeds on local intelligence and nuances, which the federal police cannot adequately provide, is not an option to our President.
“To him, it appears that continuing the same process while expecting a different output and outcome is the best way to go.
“We ask, is he comfortable with the killings in the land while the status quo persists?
“Nigerians should remind President Buhari that people evolve and societies evolve. Therefore, being trapped in a time capsule of the past about State Police is not an option Nigerians are willing to accept from him.
“On the economic front, nations of the world who enjoy the benefit of direct foreign investments (DFI) ensure that their countries are safe for investors to pour in their resources. No amount of propaganda will obviate the realities on ground and which embassies and foreign missions observe.
“Therefore, to ensure that investor confidence is restored, a safe environment must, of necessity, be created.
“Our government is trapped in the mentality of believing its own lies that Nigeria is better today than it was under PDP. To those who share this fallacy, we ask: Would they wish for their lives to be like Nigeria under this present regime? The lives of Nigerians today tell the true story.
“The more Buhari promises to lift Nigerians out of poverty, the poorer Nigerians become. To further dwell on the entire interview would be to waste valuable time. But we implore Nigerians not to relent because hope is on the way and, like one writer said, hope is better served as breakfast and not dinner, as the APC regime of President Buhari is doing, promising El Dorado in the dying days of its tenure.”
