The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has said that adherence to human rights principles under President Bola Tinubu’s government is far better than the Obasanjo/Atiku administration, in a swift response to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s recent criticism.
Describing as dishonest and deceitful Atiku Abubakar’s claims that the human rights situation under the Tinubu administration was akin to the military era, the group stated that Tinubu’s record so far is unassailable and above board.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG noted that the government in which Atiku Abubakar was number two was more dictatorial than any government since 1999.
The group said: “Of course, we were not surprised that the former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has adopted launching of series of unmerited attacks on the President Bola Tinubu administration in his hollow pastime, prancing around the political space to seek for a sixth bid for the presidency.
“But like all his previous efforts, the latest dig at the President is not only devious but also cynical especially as he claimed that the human rights credentials of the Tinubu administration ‘surpasses even the harshest days of military dictatorship.'”
“It is unbelievable that a supposed elder statesman who once claimed he had to flee into exile during one of the country’s military regime could be so disingenuous to attempt to package a lie and sell to Nigerians for inordinate political ambition.
“Anyone that was even a teenager during the military era, will easily recall how the country was awash with real, not imagined, stories of missing activists, reporters and in some cases politicians as well as the detention of people without trial, not to talk of cases of scary assassinations that are unresolved till date.
“In fact, we make bold to say that the military-era trend dovetailed into the post-military years of the Olusegun Obasanjo Administration in which Atiku Abubakar was a key player and enforcer as Vice President.
“There was no record of complaints from Atiku on the spate of arbitrary arrests and detention of Nigerians for more than a year, in some cases. The likes of Gani Adams, Frederick Fasehun, and even Asari Dokubo were held for months before being charged to court.
“Atiku was a key player in a government that arbitrarily deposed state governors at will and even orchestrated the abduction of a governor, Dr. Chris Ngige in a Gestapo manner, in a clear breach of democratic ideals.
“There was also the invasion and devastation of Odi and Zaki Biam communities in Bayelsa and Benue states respectively on the watch of Atiku Abubakar and his boss, in a manner not only unprecedented in Nigeria’s democratic history but which outraged global community. Not even in the giddy days of the military did the country witness such a peace time devastation of lives and property.
“Senate Presidents were changed like diapers at the behest of the Obasanjo/Atiku Presidency like no other administration ever dared. This is the same man who is comparing the Tinubu administration to a military regime!”
The group also accused Atiku of being antagonistic to the efforts by security agencies to stem the tide of insecurity in the country by making false and wild claims on recent activities of the Department of State Service (DSS).
“For the avoidance of doubt, security operatives did not raid the offices of Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) or any civil society organization, contrary to suggestions by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
“It is a fact that aside from the DSS, the National Civil Society of Nigeria (NCSCN), has also debunked the false narrative that the former Vice President and his media team relied on to make wild claims against the Tinubu administration.
“As for the issue of President of the Nigeria Labour Congress Joe Ajaero, we wonder how a man who is still holding on to the hope of being President would set out to demonize security operatives for doing their job.
“Nigerians now know that the Labour leader was never detained, and neither was he with the DSS beyond the hours the laws allowed compared with what Nigerians saw in the years that Atiku was Vice President.
“More shocking is that he also used the issue as an opportunity to mock ongoing efforts by our gallant men and women in the security agencies to make the country safer,” it added.
TMSG urged Nigerians to continue to see a trend of attacks by the former Vice President and his team as a sign of frustration because of his constant rejection by the Nigerian people.