A coterie of political enthusiasts on Wednesday berated President Muhammadu Buhari for commending the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.
The coterie, during separate interviews with The PUNCH on Wednesday, described Buhari’s statement as a distraction.
The President had on Tuesday said, “I don’t care the opinion you have about Abacha, but I agreed to work with him and we constructed roads from Abuja to Port Harcourt, Benin to Onitsha and so on.”
Commenting on the statement, the Chairperson of the Transition Monitoring Group, Dr. Abiola. Akiyode-Afolabi, asked, “How can anyone laud Abacha for anything? A looter, a dictator, a killer? The President missed it! Whatever the context, that statement is unwarranted. It’s a distraction, Mr. President should respect Nigerians. We all know what Abacha did. Buhari cannot rewrite history.”
He benefited from Abacha’s dictatorship –Afenifere chieftain
Also, a chieftain of the Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said Buhari spoke well of Abacha because he was his appointee and benefited from the deceased’s dictatorial regime.
Adebanjo said President Buhari had lost his credibility and should not be taken seriously.
He stated, “Buhari worked under Abacha and why are you surprised about his support for Abacha?
“Here is a President who has lost his credibility and some Nigerians are still taking him seriously. I have always spoken about the anti-democratic ideals of Buhari but his supporters at that time told me that Buhari had changed to a democrat.
“From the beginning, President Buhari has always insisted that Abacha did not steal. He said these things repeatedly during his campaigns, but his government has been recovering money looted by Abacha so I am not surprised with Buhari’s comments.”
However, the President of the National Council of Tiv Youths, Dr. John Akperashi, said the statement had exposed Buhari’s unstable posturing and further confirmed the notion that his purported fight against corruption was selective and self-serving.
He stated, “Abacha’s corruption is legendary. Till today, the nation is recovering his looted funds stashed away in various banks overseas in hard currencies.” (Punch)