- Your Comment Reckless, Falls Short Of What Is Expected From An Elder Statesman -Presidency
- Senate Summons Service Chiefs Over Rising Killings, Kidnappings
- Time For State Security Is Now- Makinde Roars
The rising insecurity in the country which has seen kidnappings and killings become the order of the day has pitted the Presidency and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against each other.
The Matrix reports that Nigeria has been under threat with two Ekiti State monarchs murdered just a few days ago, brazen kidnappings in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) the seat of power and across many urban cities in the country have left many Nigerians on the edge.
Reacting to these worrisome developments, Atiku Abubakar called for the resignation of President Bola Tinubu over the rising killings and kidnappings across the country.
Atiku lampooned Tinubu for “playing fiddle while Nigeria is drowning in the ocean of insecurity”.
“To imagine that the Commander-in-Chief is on a so-called private visit while kidnappers kill a nursing mother and grandmother in Abuja for failing to pay N90m ransom and two monarchs in Ekiti, among others,” Atiku wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Firing back at Atiku, the Presidency, on Tuesday, described the statement by Atiku as reckless” and “falling short of what is expected from an elder statesman”.
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In a statement, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga said contrary to Atiku’s claims, Tinubu is on top of the security situation in Nigeria.
“We like to believe that Alhaji Atiku is still not nursing the hangover of his electoral defeat and now latches on to any issue to attack President Tinubu.
“President Tinubu did not travel without informing Nigerians of his whereabouts. He announced a private visit to France and announced a return date.
“While in France, President Tinubu has been following developments at home and he is on top of the situation in the country. Today’s inauguration of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum wage bore his imprimatur.
“He is in constant touch with his officials and security chiefs and has directed them to stamp out every form of criminality in the country,” the statement read.
“If Alhaji Atiku is really concerned about security issues and not playing cheap politics, he should have known that President Tinubu is on top of issues and working hard to restore peace to every part of our country”.
“Our security agencies are working very hard to bring the security situation under control. President Tinubu is giving them all the necessary support they need to win the battle against criminal elements and secure every inch of our country,” part of the statement reads.
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In the same vein, the Senate has summoned service chiefs over the rising spate of insecurity in the country.
This was a unanimous call by the lawmakers after an emergency session on the first legislative day of the year on Tuesday.
The Senate broke into the executive session after the leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele raised a motion on behalf of the Senators on the security situation in the country.
After about two hours behind closed doors, the Senate then reconvened and resolved to invite the service chiefs next week, over the spate of insecurity in the country.
The service chiefs are the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-General Taoreed Lagbaja; Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla.
The Senate also adjourned plenary to February 6 to allow lawmakers to participate in Saturday’s by-elections.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, affirmed that the establishment of state police is an idea whose time has come, noting that it has become imperative to surmount the security challenges facing different parts of the country.
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The governor, who maintained that the refusal of the Federal Government to approve South-West Governors’ demand to establish state police a few years ago led to the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network Agency codenamed Amotekun, said it is important for the Federal Government to revisit the matter.
Makinde stated this when he received the Conference of Speakers of State Legislators, South-West Chapter, led by its chairman and Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye.
The speakers paid a courtesy visit to the governor in his office in Ibadan over the January 16 explosion in Bodija.
While speaking on the security challenges in the country, Makinde maintained that the establishment of state police is an idea whose time has come and that the fears in some quarters that states would not be able to maintain state police are unfounded.
He cited the example of Oyo State where the payment of salaries and pensions has never been an issue despite the economic challenges in the country.
Makinde said, “A lot of people may not know that before we launched Amotekun in this state, some of us governors went to the Federal Government and we asked to be allowed to set up state police for our various states but we did not get that approval during the time of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I disagreed at that particular time and still disagree to date that the states are not in the position to maintain state police. I have never seen where the Federal Government went to a particular state and gave the police everything they needed. So, the states are already maintaining the police.”
Makinde said that the police are on the exclusive list, but if that responsibility is split and states have to run their police system, they should have access to resources from the federation account to meet the responsibility of maintaining the police.
“So, the issue of being unable to maintain state police will not arise again. Give us the responsibility first and see if certain states will be able to maintain it or not.
“But since we could not get state police, we settled for Amotekun. All the state assemblies in the South West passed a common law for its establishment. So, we have to be pushing for state police, and you lawmakers have a role to play to make that a reality.”
