Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday said Nigeria’s greatest challenge is impunity.
The governors, therefore, blasted the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for its inability to tackle the impunity ravaging the nation.
Speaking in Abuja during the second-year commemoration of the killing of Hon. Salome Abuh and launching of the Salome Acheju Abuh Foundation, the governors, who donated N10 million for the foundation, said that impunity has led to rampant corruption and massive bloodshed in the country.
Recall that on November 16, 2019, during the governorship election in Kogi State, late Abuh was burnt alive with her family house by miscreants at Ofu in Kogi, a day after the governorship election won by the All Progressives Congress (APC) was announced.
Speaking on behalf of the governors, the Director General of the PDP Governors Forum, Cyril Maduabum, said that impunity has remained the major reason why criminality, banditry and kidnapping have continued unabated.
He said that with the present security protocol in the country, the governors are helpless in mobilizing security agencies to respond promptly to crime as they have to go through the retinue of bureaucracy.
While expressing frustration at such development, he advocated for proper devolution of power but cautioned that there must be checks and balances to curb abuses.
He said: “We decided to show presence here because we feel that the impunity as represented by the event that we are commemorating today has continued. It has continued because there is no serious response by the government in power to tackle impunity.
“Impunity is perhaps the greatest problem we have in Nigeria. It is because of impunity that we have rampant corruption because you can do anything and get away with it. Impunity has led to massive bloodshed on a daily basis in Nigeria. People are killed wantonly, people are killed whimsically.
“Impunity leads to all sorts of things. Her blood cries to heaven for vengeance because the mastermind has not been brought to book. Those who promoted the atmosphere of violence, those who think that they are God on earth and can do anything they like and get away with it, they have not been brought to book. And that is why the country is where it is today.
“If the death of Salome has been taken care of if the masterminds have been taken care of, if those who promoted ‘tatata’ in Kogi have been taken care of… That is why we have rampant kidnapping, is why we have rampant banditry, terrorism, the country is no doubt a failed state under the current government of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. The bucks stop at the table of the President.
“Yes we have state governors who can do their bit, but the security architecture is such that governors are powerless to act. You cannot command a DPO as a governor, they will tell you that they have to talk to their Commissioners of Police, if you talk to the Commissioner of Police, he will tell you that he will get permission from IG. From that, they will say that they will get permission from the Minister of Police Affairs or the President. Before you finish, crimes have already been committed.
“The PDP governors have repeatedly called for the rejigging of the security architecture of the country in such a way that policing can be decentralized. But of course, there must be proper safeguards because if you have some governors that promote violence, then it is also very dangerous to leave such security in their hands. We believe that there should be proper checks and balances to ensure that security prevails in Nigeria.”
