Presidency Describes Asari Dokubo, Sunday Igboho, Others As Charlatans Sponsored To Bully Buhari

The Presidency, on Friday, declared separatist agitators such as Sunday Igboho and Asari Dokubo as charlatans sponsored to bully the President Muhammadu Buhari, thinking he will cower or panic. 

Igboho had recently unilaterally declared that the South-West was no longer part of Nigeria.

During his declaration, the self-acclaimed activist said the major resources of Nigeria were in the hands of northerners, stressing that Yoruba people were being killed and their land taken over.

Dokubo also announced the establishment of Biafra Customary Government in which he incorporated some parts of the South-East and South-South as part of the territory.

But speaking on Friday on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said the Buhari-led government will not be kicked out of power by any group through blackmail.

The presidential aide urged people with “strong ambitions” to wait for another two years to contest in the 2023 presidential election.

He said, “I want to assure Nigerians that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is addressing multiple challenges that are facing the country, especially in dealing with security and yet we are still making progress in agriculture, economy, anti-corruption, which are the key policies that brought the party and the government to office.

“It is sad for the country that opposition is exploiting some of these things. It is quite unfortunate and I want to assure that the president remains focused in preserving the security and unity of this country.

“It is an established fact that all nations of the world face problems and what is expected of all well-meaning members of the society is that they should team up with the government so that together we will all fight criminality and insurgency and all that.

“We accept that dissent is allowed, this is a democracy and people have a right to tell truth to government but we must be careful in doing that. Nobody can bring down the government because this is a government elected democratically.

“Governments in a democracy come through periodic elections and if we have a government in office as we have, sponsored by political parties to win the elections, it is telling you that that confidence of the public is still there.”