Criticisms have trailed the outburst of Governor Ayodele Fayose on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls
Fayose had said the abduction was not true, but a political instrument to vote out former President Goodluck Jonathan.
While the Boko Haram group had shown the video of the over 200 girls in captivity, a global outrage had trailed the abduction.
In a recent interview, a former British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock, said US and UK intelligence surveillance located the missing girls at the Boko Haram Forest but could not do anything as Nigerian authorities did not ask for help.
But Fayose, on Wednesday, added a twist to the abduction saga when he said that the abduction was a political strategy employed by some people.
He spoke in Ado Ekiti while declaring open a two-day workshop on capacity building among female political aspirants from Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states.
The administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan had lived in denial up till three weeks after the news of the abduction broke, saying no schoolgirl was kidnapped in Chibok.
The senator representing Osun-West senatorial district, Isiaka Adeleke, said Fayose should put himself in the shoes of the schoolgirls’ parents, adding that even former President Jonathan later admitted that the schoolgirls were kidnapped.
Adeleke, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress, said, “Fayose should not trivialise this touchy issue. The governor should use his time wisely and pray for the safe return of these girls.”
The senator representing the Osun-East senatorial district, Babajide Omoworare, called on the country’s security agencies to invite Fayose to tell Nigerians where the kidnapped schoolchildren are.
In a reaction on Thursday, Omoworare said his called for the interrogation of Fayose because the governor appeared to have classified information on the whereabouts of the girls.
He said, “Security agents must invite Fayose for us to know where the schoolgirls are. He is probably having classified information. However, if he is playing politics as usual, it is cruel to mock the girls’ parents and Nigerians who are daily in agony and hoping that someday, the girls would come back alive.
“The Buhari administration will do all it can to bring back the girls and end the mockery from people like Fayose.”
Also, a former member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Faparusi, described Fayose’s claim as a threat to national security.
Faparusi, a chieftain of the APC in Ekiti State, maintained that Fayose by the statement had insulted the sensibilities of the families of the missing girls.
He called on the security agencies to invite the governor for questioning to shed more light on his claims.
Faparusi said, “Governor Fayose has given the whole country the lead that these girls were neither missing nor dead. All we need to do is to ask him to tell the whole country where they are being kept and nothing more.
“The world-renowned activist, Malala, came to Nigeria to visit Dr Goodluck Jonathan and begged that these children must be recovered. Even after the abduction, some of these girls escaped and were later reunited with their families when Jonathan was still in the saddle.
“Could it be inferred here that the former President who is also a member of Fayose’s party, had lied against his own administration?”
A former Executive Secretary, Ayedire Local Government Council of Osun State, Gbenga Ogunkanmi, said that Nigerians should not accord Fayose attention.
In a statement by his media aide, Ismail Usman, on Thursday, Ogunkanmi said Fayose had lost the sense of dignity and integrity.
He said, “It is shocking that a person occupying the exalted position of governor could open his mouth and gush out these insensible utterances. It shows how debased our political system is. It shows that something is wrong with how our political leaders emerge.”
Also, the Lagos State chapter of the APC slammed Fayose for describing the abduction of the missing schoolgirls as a political gimmick to pull down the Jonathan administration.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday, the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Joe Igbokwe, said Fayose had subjected himself to public ridicule with his comments.
He said, “It pains me to no end that we are still providing a chance for world-class joker, Fayose, to continue to insult our intelligence. Fayose is an indictment on all of us, especially the educated people of Ekiti State.
“Fayose is a punishment to the people of Nigeria and Ekiti State. The people deserve the kind of government they get. Again, the relocation of Ekiti lawmakers to Oyo State is not unconnected with the house of fraud called Ekiti Government House. Nothing good can come out of Ekiti as long as Fayose is there. Out of nothing comes nothing. You cannot give what you do not have.”
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