By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Anambra State government has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of playing to the gallery anytime there is a security issue in the state.

It said that the people and government of Anambra State are convinced that the state APC is indicting President Muhamadu Buhari deliberately over security lapses.

A statement by the State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C Don Adinuba, said the party leadership frustration is born out of President Buhari’s decision not to attend the party’s gubernatorial campaign flag-off in the state.

While saying that there are indications that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo cannot also attend the event, Adinuba said: “No society plays politics with its security without severe consequences. This is all the more so in a country like Nigeria which is now going through its most difficult security challenges in decades.

“It beats the imagination that the Anambra State branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) should insist in the last three weeks on playing politics with the current security situation in Anambra State in particular and the Southeast in general, though there is a greater security crisis in some other parts of Nigeria.

“Anytime violence or murder is reported, as Anambra prepares to conduct a gubernatorial election on November 6, the APC in Anambra State points a finger in the direction of the state government. It does all this as part of the electioneering campaign strategy.

“But Anambra APC indicts President Muhammadu Buhari anytime it comments gratuitously on a negative security development in the state. President Buhari, not Governor Willie Obiano, is the Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces and head of all security agencies in the country. Security is on the exclusive list of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

“Each of the 36 state governors in the federation is merely the titular chief security officer of his state. No governor has control over the police force or the Department of State Security or the Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in his state, let alone any of the armed forces. Even the Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG) is supervised by the state police command, like any other state vigilante service.”

The commissioner noted that the Presidency is now fully convinced that no primary election or congress was held by the party in the state on Friday, June 26, 2021, to nominate the APC candidate in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State.

It added: “There was no genuine attempt to conduct any form of congress on June 26. Hence, none of its 14 gubernatorial aspirants voted anywhere or was voted for.

“President Buhari, a man of immense personal integrity, and Vice President Osinbajo, a leading pastor, have decided to stay away from the Andy Uba campaign for the governorship of Anambra State. They don’t want to be seen as canonizing iniquity.

“This is the cause of the frustration which the Anambra State APC has been taking out on President Buhari over insecurity while pretending in public to blame the state administration for the new spate of murders witnessed in the state in recent days.”

Adinuba wondered why APC in the state deems it appropriate to play politics, with the murder last Tuesday at Nkpor in Idemili North Local Government Area of such persons as Dr Chike Akunyili, a leading hematologist and husband of the late Minister of Information and Communication, Professor Dora Akunyili who also was the legendary director general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

He added, APC’s obnoxious behavior like this makes most Anambra people strongly believe that it is the mastermind of the recent politically motivated killings in the state. After all, it is the only party in Anambra State which plays politics with not just security but also politically guided assassinations in our beloved state which for seven years enjoyed the richly deserved reputation of the most peaceful state in the whole country.

“The APC in Anambra State is advised to stop indicting publicly President Buhari and the APC-controlled Federal Government for the spate of assassinations in the state. These are the times which try men’s souls.”

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