PDP, APC trade words over Tinubu’s failure to visit scenes of Plateau

Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have traded words over the failure of President Bola Tinubu to personally visit scenes of the Christmas Eve killings by gunmen in Bokkos and Barkin Ladi communities of Plateau State.

Ripples recalls that President Tinubu’s deputy, Kashim Shettima, who was accompanied by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, visited the scene on Wednesday and assured that the Tinubu administration would not rest until the victims of the gruesome attacks get justice.

However, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement on Friday, questioned the failure of intelligence before and during the coordinated killings, while also knocking President Tinubu for failing to visit the victims personally.

“Of further concern is that Nigerians are also raising issues on these apprehensions by referring to the statement attributed to a former military head of State, General Sani Abacha, on the possibility of complicity by officials of a government in unrestrained insurgency or crisis such as witnessed in the Plateau State massacre,” Ologunagba stated.

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According to the PDP, the President must allay the fear and concerns on the above by immediately visiting the affected communities and personally addressing the nation on concrete steps to track down the perpetrators and their sponsors.

The PDP statement read in part: “It smacks of grave insensitivity and dereliction of duty for Mr President as the Commander-in-Chief to remain silent in the face of the targeted massacre of his citizens without defence and assistance. The President even failed to play his expected role as consoler-in-chief by not immediately visiting the troubled areas to demonstrate leadership, empathy, and connection with the citizens.

“Instead of sending his aides to issue lame statements and detailing surrogates to visit after much prodding, President Tinubu should have as a matter of duty personally visited the scene of the genocide to give succour to the families of the dead and the wounded as well as reassure that his government is with the people of the affected communities in particular and Plateau State in general.”

Responding, However, the ruling APC chided the PDP for describing the President as an insensitive leader over his failure to visit the affected Plateau communities.

The National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim noted that the PDP’s accusation was a case of a pot calling the kettle black, adding that former President Goodluck Jonathan did worse during his tenure.

Ibrahim also recalled that the former President went about his campaign for re-election in the wake of a suicide bombing in Potiskum, Yobe State, where 48 pupils were killed and about 80 others injured.

He said: “The PDP under former President Jonathan was the biggest culprit in such insensitivity if they choose to call the failure of the President to be in Plateau as insensitivity. You may recall the callous decision of former President Goodluck Jonathan to declare his second term ambition a day after 48 pupils were killed and about 80 injured in a suicide bombing in Potiskum, Yobe state.
“The whole world rose in anger, describing the action as dancing on the graves of the pupils, as well as that of all the victims of the Boko Haram insurgency. It was more like celebrating a national tragedy by the then-president and leader of the PDP. I think the PDP is suffering from memory loss.”

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