Jonathan blames APC governors for Boko Haram insurgency
President Goodluck Jonathan has again reiterated the position of the Federal Government and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that governors of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, are the cause of insurgency in their states.
According to Premium Times, Mr President at the 65th meeting of the PDP National Executive Committee, NEC, in Abuja on Thursday, said there was insecurity in the APC controlled states because the governors had not performed, unlike their counterparts in the PDP.
Although several states across party lines in Northern Nigeria have suffered from the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe are most affected. The three states are governed by the APC.
President, the report said, blamed the APC governors saying their poor performance in office fuelled the insurgency.
“There is no insurgency in PDP states because the governors are performing,” he said.
He also took a swipe at some governors who last year defected to the APC from the ruling party, saying “some people have left, but we are not missing them.”
The president said the governors who left were unpopular in their states that they could not win even ward elections if held.
He also said he never expressed any doubt or fear that the defection or crisis the party experienced in the past would affect its fortune.
President Jonathan also said his government, working in conjunction with the party, has mapped out strategies to bring an end to the menace of the Boko Haram sect.
“Very soon, Boko Haram will be history,” he said.
He said the National Security Adviser, NSA, was invited on Tuesday and Wednesday to the meetings of the PDP Caucus and the Board of Trustees, where the NSA briefed members on the progress being made in the fight against terrorism.
The president added that the NSA was not invited to the NEC because “it is too open and security matters cannot be discussed in minutes of this nature”.
The chairman of the PDP, Adamu Muazu, said the party had successfully overcome its challenges and was poised to regain its lost glory.
He said he would soon constitute a fund raising committee for the party, and host a fund raising dinner towards the completion of the party’s permanent secretariat.
Mr. Muazu said he would also appoint a governing board for the Peoples Democratic Institute, PDI, an institution he said was similar to only that of South Africa’s ANC.
Meanwhile, part of the resolutions of the NEC was to move the National Convention of the Party, earlier slated for Saturday, June 14, till after the Ramadan fast.
The NEC also adopted corrections to errors noticed in its 2012 amended constitution.
It also passed a vote of confidence on President Jonathan over the manner he is handling the Boko Haram insurgency.
