On September 8, 2014, the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed and a former Minister of FCT and APC Chieftain, Mallam Nasir El-rufai addressed the UK House of Commons on the Challenges of Insecurity and Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria. However, they were asked the following missile-like questions: 1. Early July this year, Mr Andrew Rosindell, a prominent parliamentarian, here in the U.K, had raised queries regarding the association of the A.P.C with Boko Haram and terrorists activities, he went further to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will commission an inquiry into the international support network for Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon; and if he will make a statement (Notice no. 204402) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have had with leading members of the Nigerian opposition party, the All Progressive Congress; is this meeting an arrangement by the A.P.C to jeopardize or compromise a pending investigation of any alleged links with terrorism? 2. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on the 10th of June 2013, you released a statement heavily criticizing the Federal Government for proscribing Boko Haram, calling that action unconstitutional. Do you still hold that view? Why did you make that assertion at the time you did? Are you saying that the aims and objectives of Boko Haram are constitutional? 3. A major figure in your party, General Muhammadu Buhari, also criticized the Federal Government for being too hard on Boko Haram, saying that the Federal Government should treat them in the same way as the Niger Delta militants were treated. Can you explain the rationale for that statement? 4. Your party, the APC released a statement calling for the investigation and possible arrest of Senator Ali Modu Sherriff and General Ihejerika, on the strength of Australian hostage negotiator, Dr. Stephen Daviss revelations, but curiously you were silent on the indictment by Davis of a certain senior CBN official who recently left the bank, why is this? 5. In your partys statement you lambasted former Borno State governor, Senator Ali Modu Sherriff, for having a history and notoriety as a Boko Haram sponsor. But until two months ago, Sherriff was in your party, the APC and was one of its chief promoters. Are you saying that you only discovered his notoriety after he left your party? 6. Mallam Nasir Elrufai, you are one of the advocates for Dr. Stephen Davis revelations. In those revelations, Davis manipulated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its senior officials as a conduit for funding terrorism. You are known to have gotten a major contract from the CBN running into billions in recent years. In view of Dr. Davis revelations shouldnt Nigeria take a second look at that contract and others given apparently to APC sympathizes? 7. Mallam Nasir Elrufai, you were one of the very first Nigerian politicians to call for dialogue with Boko Haram, yet you were also on record as being opposed to the recently concluded National Conference, where Nigerians dialogued with each other. Does it not seem as if you are telling Nigerians that if they want dialogue they should take to arms against the government? 8. Mallam Nasir Elrufai, on the 23rd of January 2014, you cast doubt on Nigerias ability to conduct free and fair elections and said “the next election is likely to be violent and many people are likely going to die. And the only alternative left to get power is to take it by force; this is the reality on ground. But we have seen elections since then in Ekiti and Osun, neither of which have been violent. In fact they were universally praised as being peaceful and credible. Dont you think statements like yours unnecessarily heat up the system and do you still hold on to that view? 9. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, as the APC spokesman, who does the APC suspect is the senior CBN official who recently left the bank and who went to the same school as Aminu Ogwuche in The Sudan? 10. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, many have said that the utterances of leading members of your party gives the impression that your party is prone to violence. They cite the rig and roast comment of your party leader and the dog and baboon will be soaked in blood comment of another party leader. Is the public wrong in making this observation? 11. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, why did it take so long for your party and its leading lights to come out and condemn terrorism? It is on record that both General Buhari and Bola Tinubu did not condemn Boko Haram until last year. 12. The Department of State Security in Nigeria in a statement few weeks back had drawn parallels between major bomb attacks, and electoral losses by the A.P.C. Giving examples, state by state, the DSS specifically said that there had been no major bombings following electoral wins by the A.P.C in Osun, Edo etc. but wins by the PDP and Labour party had witnessed major bombings days after, how can you explain these recurring coincidences? 13. What in your view is the motivation for Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria, can you state categorically your view on whether or not there is a political component or objective to their operations and timing? 14. Why do you think the Boko Haram seem to prefer attacking villagers and the poor and downtrodden in Northern communities but have not or only rarely attacked the northern political elite including past public office holders who abound in that part of the country having held power for over forty years? 15. The Borno State Governor is a member of your party, can you attempt an explanation for why he would insist on accumulating four hundred girls in a location for exams, against the advice of the exams regulating body, and with no evidence of requesting and ensuring enhanced security before their boarding and eventual kidnap? Can you also explain why the State Government did not seem keen on cooperation with the federal government, when the abduction occurred? 16. Dr. Stephen Davis, whose previous testimony your party has praised for its candour, gave an interview to the Sunday Vanguard this past Sunday and said the principal aim of Boko Haram is “to demonstrate that the current government cannot ensure the security of Nigerian citizens both Muslim and Christian. Therein the sponsors assume they can undermine any efforts of the current government to be re-elected in 2015”. Doesn’t this exonerate the present government and its associates of any links to Boko Haram and doesn’t this statement indict the opposition chief of which is your party? #BritainWillKnow
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 11:28:40 +0000
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