The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has said that terrorism became bigger while terrorists got more daring under the administration of former President, Goodluck Jonathan due to the administration’s incompetence and poor governance.
Shehu said this on Monday while responding to a statement credited to a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), that the last administration cleared the North-East of Boko Haram terrorists to make election possible in the affected areas.
Dasuki, who is being tried for his roles in the alleged diversion of $2.1bn meant for arms procurement, stated that this in a foreword he wrote in a newly-published book, ‘Boko Haram Media War – An Encounter with the Spymaster,’ written by a media consultant and public relations professional, Yushau Shuaib.
But Shehu maintained that no amount of lies and fiction could change the fact that the last administration performed poorly in the fight against terrorism.
He said, “The truth, as a matter of fact, is that the monster of terrorism got bigger and more daring due to the incompetence and misgovernance of the last administration and no amount lies and fiction can change that.”
The presidential spokesman described the claim as another unfortunate attempt, “by inglorious Nigerians to rewrite the history of our country in such a way as to cover the sins of the past.”
Shehu also said that as a public relations goon for the former NSA, the author did not surprise anyone by dismissing the acclaimed successes of the Muhammadu Buhari administration in the fight against Boko Haram by claiming that the current government took the glory for the achievements of the previous government in the war against terrorism.
He added, “For those interested in the facts, as of the time elections were held in March 2015, a number of local government areas in North-East Nigeria were completely under the control of Boko Haram – to the extent that elections in those areas had to be moved to safe areas.
“Residents of areas such as Gwoza, Banki, Kukawa, Monguno, Bulumba, Baga, Gamboru Ngala, Dikwa, Mafa, etc., were able to vote, not in their hometowns but in refugee camps in other parts of Borno State under special arrangements made by INEC.
“Since the Buhari administration came into power, however, many of those residents have returned to their homes and Boko Haram eradicated from their areas.
“In many of these areas, institutions such as schools, police stations, markets and courts have been re-established or in the process of being re-established.
“Despite Mr. Dasuki’s attempt to rewrite history, Nigerians could not have forgotten the embarrassing stories of failed weapons that plagued our country’s military during the previous administration, when unserviceable weapons, expired ammunition and fake armoured vehicles caused untold grief to our valiant armed forces on the battlefield, with arms exploding willy-nilly and guns failing to fire.
“It is for trespasses like this that the Buhari administration is determined to get to the bottom of the $2.1bn arms procurement scandal and ensure that no single one of the culprits goes scot-free.”
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