Chibok Girls: Jonathan Shouldn’t Have Bothered Denying Cameron’s Allegations – APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says former president Goodluck Jonathan should not have bothered to respond to the allegations of former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, over the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2015.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement said Nigerians already know the story of Jonathan’s “habitual negligence” to matters of state and so it was not necessary for him to try to deny.

According to the party, denying or arguing would not change anything.

In his new book entitled, For the Record, Mr Cameron had accused the previous government of “sleeping on the wheel” while Boko Haram terrorists were abducting schoolgirls in Chibok community of Borno State.

The former United Kingdom Prime Minister also accused Dr Jonathan of preventing British forces from engaging in rescue efforts, saying he seemed to see the incident as cheap politics.

However, responding to the matter, Jonathan described the claims as “quite sad”.

He insisted that none of the allegations was true, adding that he did not only write letters to the former UK Prime Minister but sought the help of former Presidents Barrack Obama (US) and Francois Hollande (France), as well as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in rescuing the Chibok girls.

The reaction came as the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group marked 2000 days of the abduction on October 5.

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But the APC insists that the Jonathan administration was corrupt.

Beyond that, the party also says it is a national consensus that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), elevated corruption to a national culture.

“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.

“That Jonathan’s government was corrupt was actually half of the story. The full story is that corruption hallmarked the successive 16 years,” the statement read.

The APC went further to state that “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”.

According to the party, 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.