A former Secretary to Oyo State Government, Chief Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli on Saturday said kidnapping of the Dapchi girls in Yobe State was an avoidable and regrettable development, saying ”it bears semblance of a premeditated crime against humanity because it was a suspicious act coming few days after military men were withdrawn from the area by a top government official”.
Alli, an Ibadan chief and leading Governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party in the State while fielding questions from a cross section of journalists on a radio program in Ibadan tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to look inward and do a thorough scrutiny of his top aides to ascertain their level of their wicked connivance in the infamous saga.
Alli a former Chairman, Odu’a Investment Company Limited further declared that the claims of Boko Haram insurgents defeat by the present administration and the counter claims by the insurgents which peaked with the recent kidnap of over 100 students in Dapchi, Yobe state and various attacks in the North Eastern part of the county have showed that “this President is only fighting political Boko Haram.”
He stressed that it was certain that many people were making money in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents, that is why it is still difficult for the President and the security agencies to defeat the insurgents totally.
Alli said he was convinced that many people in helms of affairs are making use of the present insecurity state in the country to make huge amount of money, “that is why government will come out one day and claim that the insurgents have been defeated while the insurgents will come out the second day and counter the claim and strike.
“Buhari is fighting political Boko Haram. Some people are making money in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents. Certainly who can convince me that some people in power are not making money in the fight against Boko Haram. We know Buhari don’t know anything about the economy but why is he failing on security and fighting corruption which were the basis of his election.
“They said several times that they have defeated Boko Haram. They are fighting war and they withdrew soldiers. They kidnapped the innocent school girls. Many people are making money from this. What is good for the geese is not only good for the gander but it must also be good for other geese especially in the area of President’s penchant and gross indulgence in nepotism.”
Alli speaking further also accused the President of fighting a selective war against corruption considering the number of accused corrupt politicians who are in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that are still roaming about the country without being prosecuted.
He said he was surprised that immediately a corrupt politician joins APC, his charges will be swept under the carpet.
Alli said “Anyone who is accused of corruption, immediately he joins APC, his case will be kept under the carpet. Look at Orji Uzor Kalu and others, many people are joining APC because they are afraid. Immediately you join APC, they will exonerate you. Babachir Lawal, former SGF case was an eye opener to the so-called fight against the graft by this administration.
Speaking on his governorship ambition, Alli remarked that the need to have a governor who knows the problems and the needs of the state and her people and provide the best for the people, informed his decision to join the governorship race ahead of 2019 elections.
Alli said ” The kind of governor we should have in Oyo state is somebody who knows the terrain. If you ask some people who want to be governor, they don’t know where Ado Awaye Lake, Ikere George Dam, among others are. I want to expand the economy base of Oyo state. If you go to Shagamu interchange, you will see a lot of industries there, we are going to do more of that in Oyo state if by God’s grace and the support of the suffering masses I become the governor in 2019.
“I am a democrat, I am a team player, I believe people of Oyo state deserve better than what they are getting now. And so we must resuscitate our moribund industries. We make efforts to call former Governor Adebayo Alao Akala and Senator Teslim Folarin back but because they have gone that does not mean that PDP will not win the 2019 elections.
“Alleviating the suffering of the hapless people and take the State to the next level is what is binding us together in PDP today and it is not about personal agenda. I will stay I am a party man. I am not leaving PDP, we want to send APC away in 2019. I was offered Senatorial ticket in 2011, it was given to Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, I did not leave the then Action Congress of Nigeria. I was not given governorship ticket in Labour Party in 2015, I did not leave.
“We know that people of Oyo state are waiting for us to come in 2019, we know that you are certainly waiting for us. And I want our people to go and get their PVCs; prayer point cannot solve this problem. It is your own voter’s card that can solve it”.