APC, PDP in war of words over Igangan killings

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State have differed on the fresh attack on Igangan in the Ibarapaland area of the state, as scores of people were reported dead, following the invasion of the town on Saturday night by some unknown gunmen.

While the APC alleged that insecurity had been aggravated in the state since the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde, the PDP said the opposition was raising a false alarm, adding that the attempt by the APC in the state to politicise the killings in Igangan was wicked and an unruly display of mindless politics.

PDP also said the leadership of the APC in the state and the country at large, must bury their heads in shame each time security matters are discussed in Nigeria.

In a statement issued by APC’s caretaker Publicity Secretary, Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olatunde, on Sunday evening, the party described the killing of not less than 20 residents of Igangan by suspected Fulani herdsmen, as one mayhem too many, criticizing the state government of failing to stem the spate of insecurity in the state.

The party queried the essence of the monthly security vote being collected by the governor, which they said he could not channel towards securing the lives and property of residents and indigenes of Ibarapaland.

The statement read: “For how long should Gov Seyi Makinde continue his buck-passing? What is the essence of the monthly security vote our governor collects if it could not be channeled towards securing the lives and property of the residents and indigenes of Oyo State?

“Obviously and certainly, the current situation of Oyo State was not what was the government of Seyi Makinde and PDP took over from APC government of Sen Abiola Ajimobi in 2019.

“APC Oyo State won’t stop to advise the Government of Engr Seyi Makimde Governor of Oyo State to be proactive and stop playing lip service and politicking with the security issues of Oyo State.

“The excuse of general security issues has been with us in Nigeria since 2009 even before the tenure of the then ACN Government led by Sen Abiola Ajimobi took over the mantle of governance in 2011, but despite that secured Oyo State people’s lives and property which was the major reason Sen Abiola Ajimobi was the first Governor of Oyo State to be appreciated with awards right, left and center after his tenure.

“Retrospectively, all governments would always have it’s own challenges but failure to nip the festering challenges in the bud is what differentiate failed government as being witnessed in Oyo State under Engr Seyi Makinde from what obtained under APC government of Sen Abiola Ajimobi whose number one achievement for its 8 years tenure as security of lives and property.

“Whenever PDP government is shown its failed scorecard on security, they would always pass the buck by deflecting away with an excuse as if it requires rocket science formulae to secure lives and property.

“Finally, we urge Gov Seyi Makinde to call a security summit to find lasting solutions to the security challenges facing us in Oyo State and forget the rhetorics of having Amotekun and Operation Burst that have shown to be ineffective so far because it is obvious that there are security lapses all over Oyo State, at least the government recently admitted the carnage that occurred in Eruwa, Ibarapa East during the OYSIEC LG election of Saturday, May 22, 2021.

“Imagine the palace of Asigangan of Igangan, many innocent lives, and properties like houses and fuel filling stations and even a lot of ancient archival property lost in one fell swoop. For how long shall we continue to mourn the avoidable loss of innocent lives,” APC lamented.

But, reacting to the APC’s statement, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde; Mr. Taiwo Adisa, described the statement credited to the APC on the killings in Igangan, which attempted to blame the governor, as “a wicked attempt to dance on the grave of the dead”.

In a statement on Sunday, Adisa said: ”We all know the state of security of Nigeria when the APC took over in 2015. We knew that the much-talked-about insurgency was restricted to three states of the North East, while kidnapping was wiped out from South East.

“Even though the leadership of APC complained loudest against the government of President Goodluck Jonathan at the time, the situation Nigeria found itself under President Buhari’s APC is nothing comparable to the sanity we all enjoyed under Jonathan.

“It is obvious the APC was merely in a power grab mission, without a clue of what is needed to fix Nigeria. As we speak, insecurity has been weaponised and decentralised, while all parts of the country have become endangered. Even the President’s state of Katsina is not spared as the sad incidents of kidnapping and killings continue to happen even during his official visits to the state.

“The APC in Oyo State has zero justification to comment on the security situation in the state, as we all know that the Constitution of Nigeria has completely vested the command and control of security agencies in the President. If the President has refused to use his constitutionally granted power to curb insecurity, why should members of his party attempt to shift the blame to Governor Makinde, who has provided needed logistics for all security agencies in the state, while also setting up homegrown initiatives to tackle insecurity?

“If the APC leaders want to be patriotic, they will call on the leader of their party, President Buhari, to wake up and stop the unwarranted killings across the land: the kidnapping of school children and other innocent Nigerians and fix the economy.”

The PDP maintained that rather than seek to “grandstand and dance on the grave of our innocent compatriots from Igangan” who was hacked down by agents of darkness, the APC should mount the podium in the 33 local governments of Oyo State and apologise for bringing a clueless government that has demobilised the nation’s security.

“Finally, the leadership of APC in Oyo State cannot use the Igangan crisis to stage a comeback to reckoning as even the South West APC leaders’ meeting held in Lagos last month did not feature any prominent APC leader from Oyo State,” PDP added.