Under Buhari led Federal Government, over #4Trillion have been spent on security, yet Nigerians are under daily threats of criminalities of Boko Harm, Fulanu herdsmen, Kidnappers and Armed robbers
The hashtag #Buhariresign has garnered over 26,300 tweets.
Abaribe spoke after the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, presented his motion on rising security challenges in the country. Although the Senate was divided on Abaribe’s demand for President’s resignation, senators, who commented on the insecurity in the country, were unanimous in berating Buhari for failing to sack the service chiefs despite their dwindling performances.
Also, there was outrage in the country over the President’s statement as groups including the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, backed the call on the President to sack the service chiefs. But the calls by Abaribe and other prominent Nigerians elicited an angry reaction from the Presidency, which described the Senate minority leader as an arm chair critic.
Major Gen. Buhari also called on Thursday, an emergency meeting of the service chiefs, the detailsof the meeting yet to be made to the public.
Buhari, who on Tuesday, while addressing eminent indigenes of Niger State at the Presidential Villa had said he was taken aback by banditry and other forms of insecurity in the North-West and other parts of the country.
The President’s position was in sharp contrast with that of his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, who, on Sunday, said insecurity was not as bad as it was being reported by the media.
In the last three months, bandits and insurgents have been attacking residents and troops in Zamfara, Niger, Katsina, Borno and many other states.
At the Senate plenary on Wednesday, Abaribe said the attitude of the President to insecurity in the country surprised him. “When I was coming this morning, I saw the newspaper headlines; ‘Mr president, Commander- in- Chief expresses shock at the level of violent crime.’
“In other words, Mr President was expressing surprise. But in accordance to our Rule 53(13), I will not go into that, but I will only say, Mr President (of the Senate), in pidgin English, this surprise, surprised me.
“You have told us that on this solemn day that we are discussing this matter; that we may not at any point be partisan and I want to tell you Mr President, if you didn’t insist that we should not be partisan, I would have called out the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina.
“Adesina, who, when the Christian Association of Nigeria leaders complained about the killing of a priest, turned around and said CAN was acting like a political party. “Now that we are talking about it here, let me hear him say that all of us are acting like a political party; when somebody is complaining about these incessant deaths in this country.
“We have to get to the root of this matter. I can only say one thing, those who live on propaganda will die by propaganda. It is a matter of life and death. Everything was being done to make sure that the hard work that was supposed to be done in securing Nigeria was not done because certain people did not do their work and preferred to cover the eyes of Nigerians with propaganda.
“All the time that we wasted in Nigeria trying to find all these excuses for non- performance has now come to stare us in the face.
“Reality is no respecter of persons. It is that reality we are facing now. Senator Sani Musa is shouting every day his people are being killed in Niger. We just took one (a motion) from Jos; a student who was murdered in the full view of everybody with a pistol. Yet, we are being told that they (Boko Haram terrorists) have been defeated.
“Nigerians did not elect the Inspector General of Police. We did not elect the Chief of Staff. We did not elect the service chiefs. We did not elect the National Security Adviser.
“We elected the government of the APC in 2015 and reelected them in 2019. The reason we reelected them was that they continued to tell us they had a key to security.
“When you want to deal with a matter, you go with the head, so we will go with the government and ask this government to resign because they can no longer do anything.
“Yes, the Nigerians voted a government into power and that government even said, ‘if we don’t perform, stone us, we are going with the stones to stone them now because they are no longer performing.”
There was an instant noise in the camps of the majority and minority caucuses of the red chamber which lasted for a while before the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, brought the rowdy session under control.
Some senators hailed the submission of Abaribe while others described it as unnecessary.
@Ejiphills Replying to @NGRPresident and @MBuhari
What we want to hear is that either the president sacks them or he resign himself.... Both the Service chiefs and the president have failed us. In my lifetime I haven't seen any government as clueless and incompetent as this one. #ThereWasAcountry
@Darlingho8
Wake up from your dream bro.. With these set of people that are empowering terrorists (repentant Boko Haram members) and criminalizing freedom fighters(IPOB) and security outfit (Amotekun) nothing will come out of it.
@ayemojubar Replying to @NGRPresident and @MBuhari
All I want to see is "Buhari fires all service chiefs", else everything is still "Incompetence Nigeria Ltd".
@OkoroCollins11 Replying to @NGRPresident and @MBuhari
Senator Abaribe is the MVP of Nigerian Senate and Nigeria at large. If not for that Gbas Gbos of yesterday, the clueless President and his service chief's will still be sleeping on the blood of Nigerians. #SackThemNow or #Buhariresignnow
Jaha said, “I know what I am saying; I know that tomorrow people can come for me. I am calling for the immediate removal of all the service chiefs and their immediate replacement with competent ones. The truth of the matter is that they have overstayed and the officers under them are not stimulated (motivated) to work, perform and to end this war. This is my position.”
The lawmakers, who were initially divided over whether the service chiefs should resign or be sacked, later resolved to “call on all the service chiefs to resign immediately, failing which the President should remove them.”
Buhari’s comment distressing – PDP
The main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, described the statement by Buhari that he was surprised by the heightened insecurity across the country as defeatist and demoralising.
The PDP, in a statement its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, said by the comment, the President displayed a disheartening dereliction of duty.
He said, “Such a statement from a Commander-in-Chief, who promised to lead from the front, is distressing as it further exposes an abdication of duty and shows that Mr President is not even abreast of his major task in governance which is the security of lives and property.
“The PDP is particularly worried about this apparent display of leadership failure as Mr President ought to be receiving a daily brief from his service chiefs on the actual situation on the ground.
“His comment therefore speaks volumes about the manner with which the security of our nation is being handled at the highest level despite the huge resources reportedly committed to security issues by the Buhari administration.”
He also said the party would want Buhari to resign. Ologbondiyan said, “The party (PDP) therefore backs the call by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, asking President Buhari to resign.”
Buhari was expressing an honest opinion, says ACF secretary
But the Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Mr. Anthony Sani, said it was not enough for the President to resign simply because he shared his honest view on the security situation in the country.
Sani, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “While I appreciate the concerns about the recent surge of attacks leading to the killing of some innocent people – thereby hyping insecurity – I do not share the views of those who call for the resignation of President Buhari for expressing his honest view of surprise at the recent surge.
Buhari’s statement deceptive – Afenifere
The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, dismissed Buhari’s claims that he was surprised by the murderous activities of bandits in parts of the country, saying he was playing games with the sensibilities of Nigerians.
Afenifere’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, accused the President of duplicity, adding that his statement showed that he was engaging in Taqqiya (deception).
He catalogued the various attacks by terrorists and bandits across the country, noting that the Presidency had always acknowledged the bloodshed and rising insecurity in the country without providing any solution.
He stated, “We see his statement as playing games with our sensibilities. When Fulani herdsmen killed over 21 people in Benue State on January 1, 2018, did he not invite Governor Samuel Ortom to the Presidential Villa, where they advised him to tell his people to learn how to live with their killers? We want to say that Taqqiya (deception) should have a limit.”
On its part, the Ohanaeze Youth Council said it supported the call for Buhari’s resignation.
OYC National President, Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, explained that Ndigbo had lost confidence in the security architecture and the leaders of the country.
Igboayaka pointed out that Buhari’s body language indicated that he lacked the political will and capacity to tackle the security challenges affecting Nigeria.
Admission of insecurity shows failure of security chiefs – Ohanaeze
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, said that the President’s admission showed that his security chiefs had failed and he should do the needful, adding that their retirement was overdue.
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who spoke to one of our correspondents in Enugu, said, “His admission implies his commanding officers have failed. He should do the needful and should stop promoting people on the basis of where they come from but on the bases of their performances. He should stop retiring people on the basis of where they come from but on the bases of their inefficiency.”
The Deputy Executive Director, Civil Empowerment and Rule of Law Support Initiative, Majirioghene Etemiku, in an interview with The PUNCH, condemned the President’s statement.
He said, “This is not what anyone would expect from a Commander-in-Chief; a man getting daily or monthly briefings from the Army, Navy, Air force, the Police, and the Department of State Services.”
Abaribe, an arm chair critic – Presidency
“You have told us that on this solemn day that we are discussing this matter; that we may not at any point be partisan and I want to tell you Mr President, if you didn’t insist that we should not be partisan, I would have called out the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina.
“Adesina, who, when the Christian Association of Nigeria leaders complained about the killing of a priest, turned around and said CAN was acting like a political party. “Now that we are talking about it here, let me hear him say that all of us are acting like a political party; when somebody is complaining about these incessant deaths in this country.
“We have to get to the root of this matter. I can only say one thing, those who live on propaganda will die by propaganda. It is a matter of life and death. Everything was being done to make sure that the hard work that was supposed to be done in securing Nigeria was not done because certain people did not do their work and preferred to cover the eyes of Nigerians with propaganda.
“All the time that we wasted in Nigeria trying to find all these excuses for non- performance has now come to stare us in the face.
“Reality is no respecter of persons. It is that reality we are facing now. Senator Sani Musa is shouting every day his people are being killed in Niger. We just took one (a motion) from Jos; a student who was murdered in the full view of everybody with a pistol. Yet, we are being told that they (Boko Haram terrorists) have been defeated.
“Nigerians did not elect the Inspector General of Police. We did not elect the Chief of Staff. We did not elect the service chiefs. We did not elect the National Security Adviser.
“We elected the government of the APC in 2015 and reelected them in 2019. The reason we reelected them was that they continued to tell us they had a key to security.
“When you want to deal with a matter, you go with the head, so we will go with the government and ask this government to resign because they can no longer do anything.
“Yes, the Nigerians voted a government into power and that government even said, ‘if we don’t perform, stone us, we are going with the stones to stone them now because they are no longer performing.”
There was an instant noise in the camps of the majority and minority caucuses of the red chamber which lasted for a while before the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, brought the rowdy session under control.
Some senators hailed the submission of Abaribe while others described it as unnecessary.
However, Nigerians must also have their say and below are comments byNigerians on Twitter
@TosinOlugbenga
Senator Abaribe said "This government said if they didn't perform Nigerians should stone, so we are ready to stone this govt....Those who live by propaganda must die by propaganda"
So he called on the govt headed by @MBuhari to resign. #BuhariResign
Damilare Alves
@damilare_alves
Who are those people trending this hashtag #BuhariResign it doesn’t make any sense are you people not tired, you all started this year with another round of online stupidity, trending an hashtag that won’t work out. if y’all are really concerned about this government march to Aso
c h r i s t y n@kessyl
Buhari should resign and give way to competent hand. We can’t continue recording killings like this everyday.#MrUnaware #BuhariResign
Henry O@onos_147
Between 2017 & January 2020, FG has repatriated $1.89Billion of Abacha loot.
That is over N681Billion in less than 3 yrs!
What did the FG do with the money?
Instead of this Yahoo Yahoo govt to address Abaribe’s claim, Garba Shehu is playing the Nnamdi Kanu card #BuhariResign
Tosin Olugbenga@TosinOlugbenga
The question we are supposed to be asking is,where should we gather to stone them,the APC people.
Before he became President,we were only battling Boko Haram.
Years after, under his nose,we now have BH,ISWAP,Bandits,cattle rustlers.
Femi Adesina would argue it#BuhariResign
Young Otutu@YoungOtutu
Lest we forget:
Buhari's admin has recorded an All time high level of inflation, nepotism, insecurity, Min. wage reduction & increase in no of unemployed.
Yet the, Garba Shehu thinks Senator Abaribe's call for #BuhariResign is foolish.
May we never be blinded by self interest.
@AfamDeluxo
Replying to
@NGRPresident and @MBuhari
Dear @MBuhari, The right thing to do at this moment is humbly resign. You have spent over N4.5trillion fighting Boko Haram and nothing has changed. You have not changed service chiefs since 2015 and obviously don't intend to do so for reasons best known to you. RESIGN NOW!
@egbojalaughter
Replying to @NGRPresident and @MBuhari
Law makers: Buhari should resign if he cannot deliver as promised. Nigerians: Yes! Yes!!! Buhari: what do I do to distract them for a while now? What, ehn? Calls Security Chiefs for a meeting as usual!
@TosinOlugbenga
Senator Abaribe said "This government said if they didn't perform Nigerians should stone, so we are ready to stone this govt....Those who live by propaganda must die by propaganda"
So he called on the govt headed by @MBuhari to resign. #BuhariResign
Damilare Alves
@damilare_alves
Who are those people trending this hashtag #BuhariResign it doesn’t make any sense are you people not tired, you all started this year with another round of online stupidity, trending an hashtag that won’t work out. if y’all are really concerned about this government march to Aso
c h r i s t y n@kessyl
Buhari should resign and give way to competent hand. We can’t continue recording killings like this everyday.#MrUnaware #BuhariResign
Henry O@onos_147
Between 2017 & January 2020, FG has repatriated $1.89Billion of Abacha loot.
That is over N681Billion in less than 3 yrs!
What did the FG do with the money?
Instead of this Yahoo Yahoo govt to address Abaribe’s claim, Garba Shehu is playing the Nnamdi Kanu card #BuhariResign
Tosin Olugbenga@TosinOlugbenga
The question we are supposed to be asking is,where should we gather to stone them,the APC people.
Before he became President,we were only battling Boko Haram.
Years after, under his nose,we now have BH,ISWAP,Bandits,cattle rustlers.
Femi Adesina would argue it#BuhariResign
Young Otutu@YoungOtutu
Lest we forget:
Buhari's admin has recorded an All time high level of inflation, nepotism, insecurity, Min. wage reduction & increase in no of unemployed.
Yet the, Garba Shehu thinks Senator Abaribe's call for #BuhariResign is foolish.
May we never be blinded by self interest.
Replying to
@NGRPresident and @MBuhari
Dear @MBuhari, The right thing to do at this moment is humbly resign. You have spent over N4.5trillion fighting Boko Haram and nothing has changed. You have not changed service chiefs since 2015 and obviously don't intend to do so for reasons best known to you. RESIGN NOW!
Replying to @NGRPresident and @MBuhari
Law makers: Buhari should resign if he cannot deliver as promised. Nigerians: Yes! Yes!!! Buhari: what do I do to distract them for a while now? What, ehn? Calls Security Chiefs for a meeting as usual!
What we want to hear is that either the president sacks them or he resign himself.... Both the Service chiefs and the president have failed us. In my lifetime I haven't seen any government as clueless and incompetent as this one. #ThereWasAcountry
@Darlingho8
Wake up from your dream bro.. With these set of people that are empowering terrorists (repentant Boko Haram members) and criminalizing freedom fighters(IPOB) and security outfit (Amotekun) nothing will come out of it.
All I want to see is "Buhari fires all service chiefs", else everything is still "Incompetence Nigeria Ltd".
Senator Abaribe is the MVP of Nigerian Senate and Nigeria at large. If not for that Gbas Gbos of yesterday, the clueless President and his service chief's will still be sleeping on the blood of Nigerians. #SackThemNow or #Buhariresignnow
Nigeria Under Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) has been hellish for the poor masses and general insecurity across the country have been on the rise.
Resign or be sacked, Reps tell service chiefs
The House of Representatives debated the killings by Boko Haram in the North-East based on a motion moved by the Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno. Punch reported
The lawmaker representing Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Federal Constituency of Borno State, Ahmadu Jaha, called for the sacking of the service chiefs, saying their efforts had failed to stop insurgency in the North-East.
Resign or be sacked, Reps tell service chiefs
The House of Representatives debated the killings by Boko Haram in the North-East based on a motion moved by the Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno. Punch reported
The lawmaker representing Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Federal Constituency of Borno State, Ahmadu Jaha, called for the sacking of the service chiefs, saying their efforts had failed to stop insurgency in the North-East.
Jaha said, “I know what I am saying; I know that tomorrow people can come for me. I am calling for the immediate removal of all the service chiefs and their immediate replacement with competent ones. The truth of the matter is that they have overstayed and the officers under them are not stimulated (motivated) to work, perform and to end this war. This is my position.”
The lawmakers, who were initially divided over whether the service chiefs should resign or be sacked, later resolved to “call on all the service chiefs to resign immediately, failing which the President should remove them.”
Buhari’s comment distressing – PDP
The main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, described the statement by Buhari that he was surprised by the heightened insecurity across the country as defeatist and demoralising.
The PDP, in a statement its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, said by the comment, the President displayed a disheartening dereliction of duty.
He said, “Such a statement from a Commander-in-Chief, who promised to lead from the front, is distressing as it further exposes an abdication of duty and shows that Mr President is not even abreast of his major task in governance which is the security of lives and property.
“The PDP is particularly worried about this apparent display of leadership failure as Mr President ought to be receiving a daily brief from his service chiefs on the actual situation on the ground.
“His comment therefore speaks volumes about the manner with which the security of our nation is being handled at the highest level despite the huge resources reportedly committed to security issues by the Buhari administration.”
He also said the party would want Buhari to resign. Ologbondiyan said, “The party (PDP) therefore backs the call by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, asking President Buhari to resign.”
Buhari was expressing an honest opinion, says ACF secretary
But the Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Mr. Anthony Sani, said it was not enough for the President to resign simply because he shared his honest view on the security situation in the country.
Sani, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “While I appreciate the concerns about the recent surge of attacks leading to the killing of some innocent people – thereby hyping insecurity – I do not share the views of those who call for the resignation of President Buhari for expressing his honest view of surprise at the recent surge.
Buhari’s statement deceptive – Afenifere
The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, dismissed Buhari’s claims that he was surprised by the murderous activities of bandits in parts of the country, saying he was playing games with the sensibilities of Nigerians.
Afenifere’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, accused the President of duplicity, adding that his statement showed that he was engaging in Taqqiya (deception).
He catalogued the various attacks by terrorists and bandits across the country, noting that the Presidency had always acknowledged the bloodshed and rising insecurity in the country without providing any solution.
He stated, “We see his statement as playing games with our sensibilities. When Fulani herdsmen killed over 21 people in Benue State on January 1, 2018, did he not invite Governor Samuel Ortom to the Presidential Villa, where they advised him to tell his people to learn how to live with their killers? We want to say that Taqqiya (deception) should have a limit.”
On its part, the Ohanaeze Youth Council said it supported the call for Buhari’s resignation.
OYC National President, Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, explained that Ndigbo had lost confidence in the security architecture and the leaders of the country.
Igboayaka pointed out that Buhari’s body language indicated that he lacked the political will and capacity to tackle the security challenges affecting Nigeria.
Admission of insecurity shows failure of security chiefs – Ohanaeze
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, said that the President’s admission showed that his security chiefs had failed and he should do the needful, adding that their retirement was overdue.
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who spoke to one of our correspondents in Enugu, said, “His admission implies his commanding officers have failed. He should do the needful and should stop promoting people on the basis of where they come from but on the bases of their performances. He should stop retiring people on the basis of where they come from but on the bases of their inefficiency.”
The Deputy Executive Director, Civil Empowerment and Rule of Law Support Initiative, Majirioghene Etemiku, in an interview with The PUNCH, condemned the President’s statement.
He said, “This is not what anyone would expect from a Commander-in-Chief; a man getting daily or monthly briefings from the Army, Navy, Air force, the Police, and the Department of State Services.”
Abaribe, an arm chair critic – Presidency
But the Presidency hit back at Buhari’s critics, particularly Abaribe, saying the Senate Minority leader should resign.
It said the lawmaker should resign for failing to honour the bail bond he secured for the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement by Buhari’s media aide, Mr Garba Shehu, the Presidency called Abaribe an arm chair critic.
It said, “President Buhari to resign on what basis? Just because some characters think that President Buhari should resign, then they expect him to quit? That call does not represent the opinion of the country. This is the opinion of an armchair critic, known for making strange comments.
“If a leader like President Buhari needs to resign, there are millions of other Nigerians who need to resign, including Senator Abaribe, who unlocked the door to enable the escape of traitorous and treasonable suspects.
“He signed the bond for the court to release Nnamdi Kanu on bail, from which moment the suspect disappeared into the thin air.”
Reacting, the Buhari Media Organisation accused the PDP of taking the president’s statement out of context.
The Chairman of BMO, Niyi Akinsiju, said Abaribe’s statement was typical of a desperate opposition lacking morality and with “ennobling precedent, to take issues out of context.”
“The truth is in black and white as reported by the media. President Muhammadu Buhari while hosting a delegation of eminent people from Niger State explained the variant of violence that had recently erupted in northwest Nigeria and other parts of the country, describing it as an evil plan against the country because, unlike the BokoHaram insurgency which he confronted in 2015, this new threat to the peace of the country has no ethnic or religious underpinnings, even as he observed the likely consequences of banditry on the nation’s agricultural sector.”
It said the lawmaker should resign for failing to honour the bail bond he secured for the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement by Buhari’s media aide, Mr Garba Shehu, the Presidency called Abaribe an arm chair critic.
It said, “President Buhari to resign on what basis? Just because some characters think that President Buhari should resign, then they expect him to quit? That call does not represent the opinion of the country. This is the opinion of an armchair critic, known for making strange comments.
“If a leader like President Buhari needs to resign, there are millions of other Nigerians who need to resign, including Senator Abaribe, who unlocked the door to enable the escape of traitorous and treasonable suspects.
“He signed the bond for the court to release Nnamdi Kanu on bail, from which moment the suspect disappeared into the thin air.”
Reacting, the Buhari Media Organisation accused the PDP of taking the president’s statement out of context.
The Chairman of BMO, Niyi Akinsiju, said Abaribe’s statement was typical of a desperate opposition lacking morality and with “ennobling precedent, to take issues out of context.”
“The truth is in black and white as reported by the media. President Muhammadu Buhari while hosting a delegation of eminent people from Niger State explained the variant of violence that had recently erupted in northwest Nigeria and other parts of the country, describing it as an evil plan against the country because, unlike the BokoHaram insurgency which he confronted in 2015, this new threat to the peace of the country has no ethnic or religious underpinnings, even as he observed the likely consequences of banditry on the nation’s agricultural sector.”
What do you think?
No comments