The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has responded to its portrayal as sponsors of terrorism by the Presidency, saying that not only is it innocent of the allegation, the real perpetrators of terrorism sponsorship are either members of the Peoples democratic Party (PDP) or someway related to it.
In a statement on Monday, National Publicity Secretary of PDP Chief Olisa Metuh had accused ACN of being pro-terrorism to have condemned the Federal government’s proscription of terrorist groups in the country. He criticized ACN for alleging that the order was aimed at gagging the press.
“Our attention has been drawn to a statement sponsored by opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in which, in its usual homage to falsehood, deceit and distortion of facts, [it] tried to suggest that the recent order by President Goodluck Jonathan proscribing groups engaged in acts of terrorism violates the constitution and aimed at stifling the press,” Metuh wrote.
“This deliberate distortion of facts clearly betrays ACN’s support for such groups as well as the heinous attempt to whittle efforts by the Federal Government and well-meaning Nigerians to end insurgency in the country. For the avoidance of doubt, no section of the order stifled the press; violated or seeks to violate any provision of the constitution. Instead the order reinforced the provisions of the constitution guaranteeing the security and welfare of all Nigerians.
Metuh explained that Section 5 (1), of the order, which the ACN is kicking against, prescribes a term of imprisonment of not less than 20 years for any person who knowingly, in any manner, directly or indirectly, solicits or renders support for the commission of an act of terrorism or to a terrorist group.
“The ACN is feverish because the order defined ‘support’ to include ‘incitement to commit a terrorist act through the Internet, or any electronic means or through the use of printed materials or through the dissemination of terrorist information.’” Metuh added.
“By all indications, it is clear that neither this section nor any other section of the order for that matter, infringed on the rights of Nigerians and the freedom of the media as guaranteed by the constitution. Rather the section clearly seeks to stop incitements to commit a terrorist acts. In trying to distort the facts, the ACN sought to weaken the fight against insurgency, but ended up betraying its support for acts of terrorism and Nigerians have taken note.”
But responding, ACN’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed urged the Presidency and the ruling party to list the names of those who have been mentioned in the past as sponsors of Boko Haram and as well state their party affiliations. CAN claimed that in a well-researched article in the journal of the New York-based World Policy Institute titled Anatomy of African Terrorism: Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown terror network, former Nigerian Ambassador to Sao Tome and Principe and a serving Nigerian State Governor, all members of the PDP, were listed as alleged terror sponsors.
“Contrary to the blatant falsehood being peddled by the Presidency and the PDP, not one member of the ACN was mentioned in that document, which is available to those who are more interested in seeking the truth than calling the dog a bad name just to hang it,” Lai wrote.
”We abhor terrorism in all its ramifications, and have never and will never support terrorism under any guise. But our stand on Boko Haram is also well known to all fair-minded people whose thinking has not been clouded by political considerations: Terror has festered in our country largely because of widespread poverty/economic deprivation, massive unemployment, injustice and alienation of a large section of the society, all products of years of bad governance.
ACN lamented UNESCO’s identification as home to the largest number of out-of-school children in the world, saying the implication is the creation of a large pool of possible recruits for terror.
”While these problems date back a long time, the rapacious PDP, which has ruled at the centre since our country’s return to democratic rule in 1999, and the painfully incompetent government of President Goodluck Jonathan have not made things better,” the statement added, saying it is clear that “as these evil twins (PDP/Presidency) point one accusing finger at the ACN, four others are pointing at them.”
