Tinubu Takes On Obanikoro Over Tweet Accusing His Friends Of Creating Boko Haram

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, July 02, (THEWILL) - Former Governor of Lagos State and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, Wednesday lashed out at the junior Minister of State for Defence, Ambassador Musiliu Obanikoro, over his tweet, which accused the former governor's friends of creating Boko Haram, a terrorist group that has killed over 5, 000 persons since it started its violent campaign against innocent civilians and the military.

'The Boko Haram mess we are dealing with was created by Tinubu's friends who promised to make Nigeria ungovernable for this Government,' the Minister tweeted Wednesday.

But in a harsh response to Obanikoro, Tinubu in a statement accused the Minister and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of aiding and abetting the Boko Haram.

'Obanikoro (aka Onikoro) and this shameless PDP government should step forward and explain to Nigerians why the over 200 girls kidnapped in Chibok are yet to be rescued. They should explain why the Boko Haram insurgency continues unabated despite billions that is being voted for security,' the statement Wednesday by Sunday Dare, Tinubu's Media Advisor said.

The statement further said: 'The defence budget to fight Boko Haram and Terrorism has become a conduit pipe for the ruling party PDP just as the likes of Obanikoro continue to use Boko Haram as a tool of blackmail against the opposition. This time, just like it failed in the past, it will not stick. It will not stand. It is the PDP led government in which Obanikoro is an active and pliable agent that is perpetrating the insurgency for pecuniary benefits. This government has no shame. It lacks the moral authority to point fingers at individuals or the opposition. The country is literarily on tenterhooks and all the PDP can do is lie to Nigerians in order to cover up its failures.

'Obanikoro's allegation that Tinubu and his friends in the opposition created Boko Haram is both fallacious and untenable. It is the kind of fable that can only come out of the mouth of someone who is delusional. One whose intoxication with power is not in doubt. This allegation is both unreasonable and unsustainable, but not surprising coming from the person it came from. Bola Tinubu and the APC have been on record repeatedly condemning killings and bombings by Boko Haram and proffering solutions to the menace.

'The PDP is preparing the grounds for its next round of hounding opposition leaders, militarizing our cities and violating the democratic rights of Nigerians to move freely. This is political Boko Haram of which the PDP is the Chief Architect.

'In Ekiti we saw a dress rehearsal of the impunity and near brigandage of this government and its agents. Nigerians are urged to be vigilant before a few desperate persons steal our voices, our rights, our liberties and freedoms.'