The All Progressives Congress, APC, on Saturday sided with former British Prime Minister, David Cameron that former President Goodluck Jonathan was negligent in the handling of the Chibok girls’ abduction in 2014.
The party accused Jonathan of being habitually negligent to national issues during his four years in office.
The APC through its National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, was reacting to the claims by Cameron in his book, ‘For the Records,’ that Jonathan’s administration rejected offers by the British government to assist Nigeria to rescue the abducted 276 Chibok school girls and Jonathan’s response to the claims.
The former Prime Minister had also accused the Jonathan administration of high corruption.
Jonathan in response accused Cameron of lying, insisting that nothing of such happened.
However, in a statement on Saturday night, APC said Jonathan should not waste energy denying the claims as his administration’s negligent attitude towards serious national issues and penchant for unusual corruption were well known.
The party said: “Nigerians already know the story of Jonathan’s habitual negligence to matters of state.
“The Chibok schoolgirls abduction and his “sleeping behind the wheel” is not a story to deny as it is already part of our national history.
“We may disagree on a number of issues in Nigeria, but there is a national consensus on the fact that PDP elevated corruption to a national culture.
“Denying or arguing against the truth is not going to change anything at this stage. The stories of outlandish corrupt practices under the PDP are still unraveling.
“What is important now is Jonathan explaining to the families of the abducted schoolgirls why as president, he did nothing for two weeks after the Chibok abductions and still refuses to take responsibility for the tragedy up till now — except he continues to blame the Chibok abductions and other failings of his administration on the so-called grand conspiracy against him as he laboriously tries to state in his response to Cameron.
“The current administration’s reactions and actions after the similar and unfortunate Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping is a pointer to how a responsive government should act.
“That Jonathan government was corrupt was actually half of the story. The full story is that corruption hallmarked the successive 16 years administrations under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“It is shameful that anyone is even defending it. Corruption is PDP’s political ideology. This fact is already cast in stone. Nigerians do not need Cameron or anyone else to tell us how corrupt and ineffectual the PDP era was.
“As a consequence, Nigerians voted out the PDP administration in 2015 and elected the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration to clear the mess the 16-year PDP administration left the country. Our resolve to do just that is unshaken.”
