The presidency on Wednesday denied allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the federal government has spent over $32 billion in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency.
Speaking to newsmen at a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, described the APC claims as most unfortunate and unpatriotic.
According to Thisday newspaper, Okupe also denied that Jonathan’s administration underrated the capacity of Boko Haram, and had waited for this long to rout the insurgents as a political trump card.
According to him, what happened was that Boko Haram was treated as a local insurgent group when their activities first started, as there was scanty information on its global network in training, funding and supply of arms.
He explained that the successes being recorded in recent times by the Nigerian military in their various international engagements were due to factors such as tailor-made equipment for foreign operations and equipping the soldiers better, among other things.
Okupe said: “The recent success of the Nigerian military in the war against terror has been made possible by the following factors: Deployment of specially trained anti-terrorism combat squad who were recently trained by our international partners.
“The acquisition and deployment of more sophisticated, adequate and appropriate military hardware.
“The recent approval by the African Union and the United Nations for a broad-based international coalition to collaborate with our military.
“This approval also gives legal authority to our neighbours (Chad, Niger and Cameroun) to lawfully deploy troops on Nigerian soil, while our military can now operate beyond our borders to hunt fleeing terrorists; thus removing their safe haven.”
The presidential aide said these factors have made it possible to be optimistic that the insurgents will soon be overpowered, thus ensuring a safer climate for both the upcoming general elections and resumption of civic activities in the areas affected by insurgency, Thisday reports.
Okupe claimed that the APC, which was in the habit of siding with the terrorists, criticising measures adopted by government to tackle insurgency and demeaning the Nigerian military, seemed unhappy with the recent victories.
He said: “We find it very embarrassing that the APC always desperately seeks to feed on blood like leaches and profit from national tragedies and misfortune.
“This habit of the Nigerian main opposition political party runs contrary to what obtains in other parts of the world where politicians rise above partisanship and quest for power in matters of this nature.
“Why can’t our own opposition party learn from the united front presented by French political leaders in the recent Charlie Hebdo terror shootings?”
However, Okupe said President Jonathan has assured Nigerians that the scourge of Boko Haram will soon be eliminated.
The general elections had been postponed by six weeks for security reasons, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency. With the elections fast approaching, the Nigerian military have been fighting to rout the insurgents. With the help of troops from neigbouring countries, they have been successful in recapturing some towns from the sect. (Thisday).