The Police investigation

Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, therefore, directed the Committee on Police Affairs to investigate the alleged sealing of the assembly complex by the police in order to ascertain the reason for their action.

He said, “What is wrong is wrong. It’s wrong for a parliament to be sealed by security agents. We should not be partisan about it, but it’s necessary we allow the Committee on Police Affairs to investigate it because it’s still an allegation by a member, which should be investigated.”

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Outburst by the former governor of the state

Ologbondiyan recalled the outburst by the former governor of the state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who vowed that the APC would take over the state the same way Hitler overran Poland, swearing, “War shall see Warsaw and Warsaw shall see war” in the state.

He said, “Given that this statement is the policy of the APC and the Buhari presidency against Akwa Ibom and other parts of our country, where they are not in control, the president, as chief security officer of our country, never issued a reprimand nor has Senator Akpabio been pulled in for questioning by security agencies.”

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Ologbondiyan noted

“Since the arrival of Kimo, there has been mounting tension and escalated siege mentality in Akwa Ibom State, particularly in the state legislature where thugs, backed by the police, have been invading the premises, disrupting legislative activities, harassing staff members and hindering them from performing their responsibilities.”

He said their plot was to forcibly take over the state or any other PDP-controlled state, warning that this would be firmly resisted by the people of those states and could lead to a crisis of unprecedented magnitude that has the capacity of truncating democracy in the country.

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The incident of 18th November 2018

“The incident of 18th November 2018, happened at a time when the Nigerian Army was planning to hold the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference for 2018 in Benin City, Edo State. On account of this incident, the Conference had to be moved from Benin City to Maiduguri to enable the Nigerian Army leadership get closer to the troops on the ground and to better appraise our activities, assess our performance and identify our shortcomings as an Army.

“Since 2015, the Nigerian Army in conjunction with sister services and other security agencies have systematically degraded the capabilities and capacity of Boko Haram terrorists and many successes were achieved. However, in the last 2 – 3 months, we have noticed daring moves by the terrorists, increased use of drones against our defensive positions and infusion of foreign fighters in their ranks. These potent threats require us to continually review our operations.

“At this point permit me to implore all of us to spare a thought for the brave men and women of the Nigerian Army who paid the supreme price for the security of Nigeria. The Nigerian Army will continue to support the families of these brave officers and soldiers and pray that their souls rest in perfect peace. Let us also not forget the men, women and children who have been killed or affected by the atrocities of the terrorists. It is for their sake that this war against terror must be won.”

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Shehu listed the laws

Shehu listed the laws as  the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017; Anti-Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017;  Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Bill 2017; Proceeds of Crime Bill 2017; Public Interest Disclosure and Witness Protection Bill, 2017; and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2017.

On Jonathan’s assertion that his administration introduced the policies the Buhari administration has been using to fight corruption, the Presidency disagreed.

Shehu said, “Nigerians should dismiss Dr Jonathan’s hollow boast that he, not President Buhari, introduced schemes such the Biometric Verification Number, the Treasury Single Account and the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System. Of what use is the announcement of good policies without the will to implement them?

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The Presidency stated

Furthermore, the Presidency stated that Buhari introduced the whistle-blower policy to cut fraud and financial misconduct.

“Within six months of introducing this policy, over 5,000 reports were made through various channels, 365 actionable tips were received out of the 5,000 reports. So far more than N200bn has been recovery,” it added.

On the recovery made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Presidency said as of 2015, there was only N19.5bn in the recovery account.

“After one year of the new anti-corruption drive by the Buhari administration, this figure had gone up to N279 bn, and since then a lot more has been recovered”, it stated.

The Presidency further noted that Jonathan’s book really didn’t have anything to say about his achievements or those of the Peoples Democratic Party’s 16 years in office, hence the resort to making excuses.

The Presidency said, “As evidenced from a fleeting look at the book, the former President had nothing to say about his own achievements. If there was a recession, and yes we had a moment in it, was it due to one year of President Buhari’s government?

“In his efforts to blame everyone but himself for his failures, Dr Jonathan heaped the blame for the predictable economic recession on President Buhari, ignoring the seeds sown under him through mismanagement and the process set in firm roots for the decline of the economy. Evidently, he did nothing to avert the situation.”

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