On the alleged audio linked to Amaechi, the minister dismissed the recording as the handiwork of blackmailers.

Iheanacho Nwosu, Abuja

Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed yesterday dismissed the fuss over the tenure of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, whose tenure ended on January 3.

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He said the planned nationwide protest by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) over the issue is unnecessary and unwarranted.

He also weighed in on the alleged audio where Minister of Transportation and Director General All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PC), Rotimi Amaechi, criticised President Muhammadu Buhari. He said the audio was doctored by the opposition to blackmail and cause division within the ruling party.

Mohammed, who stated these during an interaction with newsmen, in Abuja, yesterday, equally lashed out at the opposition for kicking against the appointment of the National Commissioner in-charge of Health and Welfare of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Amina Zakari, as the head of Presidential Collation Centre.

The minister accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of expending energy on non-issues.

He said: “When you are drowning, you grab any floating object you can find. You even grab at straws. That’s what the PDP is doing with the issue of the IGP’s tenure.

“It is the prerogative of Mr. President to extend or not to extend the tenure of the Inspector General of Police or any service chief. That prerogative cannot be taken from Mr. President on the altar of paranoia by some people.”

Although the minister said he was not aware whether or not the tenure of Idris will be extended by the president, he however said doing that would not be the first time such step would be taken by an incumbent.

He recalled that “(Former) President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his time, extended the tenure of Mr. Sunday Ehindero as IGP. Was there no opposition party then? Also, in his time, President Umaru Musa Yar’Ardua extended the tenure of Mr. Mike Okiro as IGP; heavens didn’t fall.

Mohammed equally accused the PDP of making an issue over the appointment of Zakari as the head of INEC’s Presidential Collation Centre even when it knew that she would not be in a position to influence the outcome of the February presidential election.

He said: “The opposition’s reaction to INEC’s appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari as head of the INEC Collation Centre Committee is nothing but sheer hysteria; resulting from a pathological fear of impending political doom.

He maintained that “INEC has explained that Mrs. Zakari is not the returning officer for the presidential election. The chairman of INEC is the returning officer. Her role is limited to overseeing the physical structure, that is the International Conference Centre, which is the collation centre for the presidential election. The cries of the opposition amount to red herring.”

On the alleged audio linked to Amaechi, the minister dismissed the recording as the handiwork of blackmailers.

“Again, the opposition is determined to ensure that the ongoing campaign for the 2019 elections is not based on issues, but on mudslinging,” he said.

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