Boko Haram: APC Says Jonathan Should Be Removed …Using Sect For 2015

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the federal government

against going ahead with its reported plan to remove the elected Governor

of Borno and appoint a military administrator to oversee the affairs of

the state, under the guise of intensifying the fight against Boko Haram.

In a statement issued in Ibadan on Monday by its Interim National

Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the presidency

should realize that there is always a limit to impunity, and that if

indeed anyone should be removed over the protracted insurgency in the

state and the entire North-east, it is President Goodluck Jonathan.

”What is happening in the North-east in general and Borno state in

particular is failure of leadership at the highest level of government,

especially because the imposition of a state of emergency in the three

worst-hit states has given the President emergency powers to deal with the

protracted crisis.
”As the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President

Jonathan is in full control of all the instruments of coercion available

to the country, which he can and has been deploying at will. If,

therefore, some seemingly implacable dead-enders have continued to kill,

maim and destroy in any part of the country, no one but the President

should be held liable. Everyone knows a Governor does not deploy troops.

”Also, it is trite to say that the raison d'etre of any government is the

protection of lives and property. This means that the moment any

government fails in that key responsibility, it can no longer justify its

reason for existence,” it said.
APC said Gov. Kashim Shettima and the entire people of Borno are the

victims in the senseless war being waged by Boko Haram, and that what they

deserve are succour and support, not further victimization by a federal

government which seems to have run out of ideas on how to subdue the sect.

The party said no one should lend any credence to the denial, by the

presidency, of the evil plot to remove Gov. Shettima, because this

presidency's words have never been worth the paper on which they are

written.
”Several times in the past, this presidency has issued a straight-faced

denial only to go ahead and do exactly what it said it won't. Against such

blatant lack of credibility and integrity, we do not believe the

presidency's denial,” it said.
APC said it is becoming increasingly clear that the presidency may be

using the state of emergency in the North-east to fight its own political

battle and get rid of those it perceives as a stumbling block to its

interest in 2015.
The party said if that were not the case, the presidency will not be

flying a satanic kite of planning to remove the Governor of Borno when it

is clear that this Governor has done everything humanly possible to

support the federal government and the brave men and women fighting the

sect, in addition to providing succour to the good people of Borno who

have been terribly traumatized by the activities of the misguided

terrorists.
”The state of emergency has run its initial course and has even been

renewed, yet the insurgency continues. That means the federal government

must think out of the box to evolve new strategies to tackle the

insurgency. One of such is to heighten intelligence gathering that will

make it possible for our security forces to preempt attacks. Another is to

win the hearts and minds of the local population so they can do more to

help fish out the insurgents.
”We are sad to note, however, that the federal government seems to have

its own agenda, which may include allowing the insurgency to fester so

that elections will not be able to hold in the area in 2015. If anyone

thinks this is outlandish, such a person under-estimates the desperation

of this presidency going into the 2015 elections,” it said.