An expanded security meeting to dwell on the worsening insecurity across Nigeria was held on Wednesday in the absence of 16 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors.
The absentees, all members of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, were not invited to the meeting, the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, who was asked to brief journalists after the meeting, said.
“”No, No, No; they (APC governors) were not invited,” Mr. Akpabio, a member of Mr. Jonathan’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, told journalists.
Despite the fact that three of the states mostly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency and thus under emergency rule – Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe – are controlled by APC governors, and that Mr. Jonathan had blamed the APC governors for the insurgency in their states, Mr. Akpabio tried to justify the reason why the opposition governors were not invited to the meeting.
“You know there was an initial requisition of this meeting by the PDP governors, this was as a fallout of our own meeting. And so it wasn’t something that was extended to all,” he said.
“That is why I said they have been invited on Wednesday,” the Akwa Ibom governor added, saying the opposition governors have now been invited to an enlarged meeting on April 23 where all the governors, security chiefs, and the president will be present.
He said Thursday’s meeting was initiated by the PDP governors, whose forum he heads, to give the president and the service chiefs their views on the security challenge. Mr. Akpabio stated that Mr. Jonathan, however, decided that since the security challenge was a national one, all the 36 governors should be in attendance.
“We just wanted to meet with our president and some service chiefs to hear our views and also make some suggestions. Now he (the president) is insisting, which is right too, that is a national issue because it must be handled nationally and that is why all the governors must be here.”
Misinforming Nigerians
Mr. Akpabio’s claim contradicts a Wednesday statement by presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, that all the state governors were invited for Thursday’s enlarged meeting of the National Security Council.
The statement said the enlarged meeting would be held hours after the main National Security Council meeting. The enlarged meeting would review the security situation in Nigeria as well as the ongoing national security measures and operations with a view to determining the best way forward, Mr. Abati said.
“The meeting of the National Security Council will be followed at 1300 Hours by an enlarged meeting on security developments in the country to which President Jonathan has invited state governors,” Mr. Abati said.
The spokesperson did not mention that only selected governors would be invited to the meeting.
In what appears a ploy to mislead Nigerians, while Mr. Akpabio was justifying the deliberate non-invitation of the opposition governors, a presidential aide, Reno Omokri, was telling Nigerians that the APC governors boycotted the meeting.
“APC governors don’t shun meetings where the Federal Government gives state funds. But as this one is to take care of the security of Nigerians, they shunned it,” Mr. Omokri, President Jonathan’s assistant on New Media, said on his twitter handle.
“Government is different from politics. It’s quite unfortunate that in the pursuance of politics, APC governors shunned a meeting to secure the nation,” Mr. Omokri added.
It is not clear who among Mr. Akpabio and Mr. Omokri was lying, although Mr. Akpabio was at the meeting and spoke on behalf of the attendees.
“The APC governors were even shocked to learn that the meeting held after they had been told it was postponed,” Mr. Lukman said.
The APC later released a statement in which it denied that its governors shunned the meeting with Jonathan.
The opposition party later released a statement on Thursday saying its governors were deceived into believing the meeting had been called off.
The spokesperson for the party, Lai Mohammed, said in a statement, “On Wednesday, the Presidency called the Chief Detail of the Kwara State Government to say that the meeting had been called off.
“On the basis of this information, which apparently got to other governors under the aegis of the APC, our governors did not attend.
“Now that the meeting has been held, it is incumbent on the Presidency to launch an investigation into the source of the call to the Kwara State Government and what the call was meant to achieve.
“Irrespective of the totally unfounded and absolutely irresponsible allegation that the APC is behind the escalating security situation, our party will not shy away from any serious effort to end the terrorist attacks in our country. Therefore, it is not true that our Governors shunned the meeting with the President.”
Source:Punch
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