#BringBackOurGirls: 90% of Protesters are APC Members, Says Labaran Maku

The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, on Wednesday alleged that about 90 per cent of protesters campaigning for the release of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted from Chibok, Borno State, are members of the All Progressives Congress.

He also said that President Goodluck Jonathan had performed miracle with the achievements recorded by his administration in three years.

He said the President deserved commendation because the feats were achieved despite the fact that no Nigerian leader had faced the kind of challenges he was facing now.

Maku said this while answering questions from State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Jonathan.

The minister also took a swipe at the APC, saying a lot of the nation’s resources were being spent by the Federal Government on insecurity in states controlled by the party.

This notwithstanding, he alleged that about 90 per cent of protesters campaigning for the release of the over 200 schoolgirls were members of the APC.

He said, “The entire money we are spending is to maintain security in states controlled by that party. So why do you come back and start playing politics?

“We are busy spending money to maintain security in those states, what have they done about it? Because 90 per cent of all insurgency is in states controlled by that party, 90 per cent of those campaigning to bring back Chibok girls are members of that party.

“I think that honestly if we want this country to grow, we must ask the relevant questions. The Chibok girls remain our number one priority, we will never sleep, we will not rest until God brings them out.

“The Federal Government is a fire fighter. We did not create this insurgence or the structure that led to them, you know where they came from but you are now blaming the fire fighter for the fire.”

The minister said after reviewing the performance of the first implementation plan of Vision 20:2020, the council returned a verdict that the country was on the right course under Jonathan.

“We believe that the President needs to be congratulated and we did so because we believe what he has done in the last three years is a miracle if we look at the challenges, clear bottlenecks that were placed on his path by some of us the citizens of this country,” he said.

Maku said it was clear that Nigeria under Jonathan had done better than most countries in Africa despite the challenges confronting the nation.

He insisted that the killings, kidnappings and vandalism being recorded in parts of the country were planned to frustrate Jonathan and his administration.

Despite these, however, Maku said the President had been able to improve the nation’s economy with his various reforms.

He said after deliberating on the achievements and challenges of the vision between 2010 and 2013, the council returned the document to the Ministry of National Planning to rework some issues raised.