From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Abuja
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has urged the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to ask his party why it allowed Boko Haram to become a monster when it was in power.
At a People’s Town Hall 2023 series aired on a national television on Sunday, the former vice president to erstwhile president, Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999-2007, said he was puzzled about Boko Haram and how it was allowed to fester.
But, yesterday, Mohammed, pointedly told Atiku to stop blaming the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration when it was the PDP that was unable to contain Boko Haram when it started in 2009.
He stated this, in Abuja, at the ongoing PMB administration scorecard from 2015-2023.
Mohammed accused Atiku of abandoning Nigeria for refuge in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates at the peak of Boko Haram killings. He warned the former vice president not to throw stones on the campaign trail of the APC.
The minister noted that the PDP administration was unable to tame Boko Haram and allowed insurgents kill citizens until the Buhari administration took over in 2015 and has decimated the group and their activities.
“…Let me quickly react to the statement credited to His Excellency, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who has reportedly expressed surprise at the existence of Boko Haram. The former vice president was quoted as saying he could not honestly understand the Boko Haram phenomenon, and wondered why Boko Haram continues to operate. Well, I think His Excellency didn’t need to look far to get the answers to his questions. He should simply ask his party, the PDP, under whose watch Boko Haram insurgency started in 2009. For six years until 2015, when our Administration assumed office and inherited Boko Haram, the PDP more or less nurtured the insurgents to the monster they later became. Alhaji Atiku should ask his party why it allowed Boko Haram to operate freely, bombing cities, motor parks, schools and other soft targets unrestrained.
“Alhaji Atiku, who was then residing in Abuja before porting to his new abode in Dubai, should ask his party, the PDP, why it allowed Boko Haram to bomb the police headquarters, the UN Complex, a shopping mall and motor parks in Abuja with so much ease.
“His Excellency may want to know that today, thanks to our patriotic troops, military objectives have almost been achieved in the North East, the home region of Boko Haram, thereby creating conditions for Stabilisation Operations to take place. Despite the very large Joint Operational Area, Boko Haram terrorists have been cleared from most of their strongholds, while remnants are being restricted to the tumbus/island around the Lake Chad that are difficult to access.”