The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to name the sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria to vindicate himself.
The country has battled insurgency in the north east region over the past decade, and is currently fighting the alarmingly rising menace of bandits across the northern region.
Allegations have been made in the past that politicians have been bankrolling the campaign of violence for political benefits but nothing concrete has materialised for years.
In response to when the government plans to publicly name and shame the sponsors, Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, during a televised interview on Monday, September 20, 2021, said the administration is less interested in that, and more in prosecuting them in court.
“Nigeria is not interested in naming and shaming anybody, rather it wants to bring them to justice,” he said.
His comment has once again stirred the accusation that the administration is covering up for guilty officials in Buhari’s government, an accusation PDP repeated in a statement on Tuesday, September 21.
The party said its theory explains why the current government has failed to effectively tackle terrorism after over six years in power.
The PDP noted that the government is still backing the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, whose past pro-terror sentiments were made public this year, but kept his position.
“The PDP holds that the decision of the APC-led government to cover the identity of sponsors of mindless mass killings, maiming, rapping, kidnapping of our compatriots as well as the endless violent marauding of our communities under the APC watch, validates our stand that such individuals have connections with the APC.
“This unpatriotic stance by the Buhari Presidency raises serious national anxieties of high-level complicity in the administration and further explains the reported compromising of our security system in the escalated killings and acts of terrorism in our country in the last six years under the APC,” the statement read.
Six Nigerians were jailed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year for funding the Boko Haram terrorist group directly responsible for over 35,000 deaths in Nigeria since 2009.
The Federal Government announced months ago that it had arrested hundreds of Bureau de Change operators used to launder money for the terrorist group, but they are yet to be prosecuted.
