Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has said that the leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is still yet to recover from the loss dealt his party at the Ekiti State gubernatorial elections last month.
Obanikoro spoke in response to criticism from Tinubu who accused him of spending more time playing politics than getting involved in his ministerial duties.
Tinubu had said, “The Minister of State for Defence has spent more time in Ekiti than he has in Chibok. This is not responsible democratic governance. It is a hoax.”
“Boko Haram is an extreme manifestation of the chronic and acute misrule that has spread gross injustice and mass poverty across the face of our beloved nation.
“All nations have their wayward souls. However, in better governed, more prosperous societies, the number of anti-social actors is much less and even their extremism is somewhat muted.
“Because of their low numbers, they are confined to being a law enforcement problem.
“But here, abject poverty swells their ranks. Here, they have become a small army. With that, they are a national security threat and a political challenge to a free and open society.”
Countering his comments, via his media aide, Ohimai Amaize, Obanikoro said, “It is unfortunate that people like Tinubu have chosen to politicise our war against the Boko Haram insurgency. To begin with, the mess we are trying to clean up was created by the opposition which had promised to make Nigeria ungovernable for this administration.
“If I have a political campaign, anywhere in the country to participate in, I will go there. It does not in any way affect my responsibility as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In other advanced societies, their leaders deal with their security issues without reducing it to politics.
“Leadership is multi-dimensional and I am combining politics with my governance responsibilities.”
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