14th January, 2015
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has debunked allegation by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that President Goodluck Jonathan was unserious about welfare and needs of the nation’s security agencies.
Instead, the party said that the allegation was a demonstration of APC’s desperation for power.
This was contained in a statement issued by Femi Fani-Kayode, Director of Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation on Tuesday in Abuja.
Fani-Kayode said that the accusation, believed to be based on the Ombatse killings in Nasarawa state in May, 2013, was another example of the insensitivity and opportunism of the APC.
“It also shows how the desperation of the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, for power has pushed his party’s campaign organisation into a frenzied search for any imaginable reason or ground.
“This imaginable reason has made APC to accuse President Jonathan of incompetence in the handling of security matters,” he said.
He explained that the crisis that led to the death of security personnel in the incident was due to in-fighting within the political echelon of Nasarawa state, which was controlled by the APC.
Fani-Kayode advised APC not to politicise “the fallout of a heinous deed with a view to profiting from it”.
He said that the Federal Government had established a mechanism to determine the immediate and remote causes of the unfortunate Ombatse killings.
“In addition, while nothing can replace the loss of loved ones, the families of the fallen security personnel were compensated.
“There is still an ongoing process to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to book and forestall a recurrence.
“We will not join the APC in the distasteful exploitation of the deaths of our security personnel for political gains,” he added.