APC accuses Jonathan of sabotaging transfer of power

The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday accused the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration of plotting to sabotage a smooth handover of power to the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on May 29, 2015.

In a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party alleged that it was becoming apparent that theJonathan’s administration will not fully cooperate with the incoming government, despite its public posturing in that regard.

The APC’s position is coming against the backdrop of President Jonathan’s warning against the establishment of a parallel government by the incoming APC -led administration before May 29 after it inaugurated a 19-member transition committee headed by Alhaji Ahmed Joda.

Minister of National Planning, Suleiman Abubakar, had at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Jonathan, noted that Jonathan was still in charge till May 29, adding that the president was not comfortable with some terms of reference of the incoming government’s transition committee, which tended to create a parallel government.

But the APC described the President’s position on the issue as an act of hostility and a patently-misplaced aggression against the incoming Buhari administration, alleging that the hostility towards the terms of reference of the Buhari Transition Committee was in reality part of an orchestrated plot to sabotage the transition.

The APC alleged continued blackmail by the Jonathan administration “as a result of President Jonathan’s concession of defeat, wondering whether the concession, gracious as it was, has now become a shield for all wrong doings.

‘’We are sick and tired of being blackmailed by the Jonathanians. Gen. Buhari won the 28 March Presidential Elections fair and square, having satisfied both constitutional and other statutory requirements.

We have no apology for our victory, and the concession of defeat – while it may have increased the political stock of President Jonathan – has by no means diminished the historic and emphatic victory of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress,’’ APC said.

Justifying its allegation of plot to hinder a smooth transition of power, the party said while the outgoing government had earlier issued a memo to all ministries, departments and agencies to make sure their handover notes are ready by April 20th, the same government has now reversed itself and said the handover notes will not be ready until May 14th.

’With the new date, the Buhari Transition Committee will have little or no time to take a thorough look at the handover notes or seek clarification on knotty issues, effectively handing it (Buhari Transition Committee) a fait accompli as far as the handover notes are concerned.

This does not augur well for a smooth transition and gives the impression that the outgoing Administration is trying to hide something. ‘’By its dillydallying on the date for the readiness of the handover notes from the MDAs, the administration’s posturing that it is ready to hand over has been exposed as nothing but a smokescreen,’’ it said.

APC described as illogical and strange the claim by the Jonathan administration that the President-elect is trying to set up a parallel government simply because he has set up his own Transition Committee and given it terms of reference meant to guide the members on the discharge of their duties as members of that committee, wondering how on earth those terms of reference have become the concern of the outgoing Federal Executive Council.

’In case the Federal Executive Council has forgotten, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress was declared the winner of the March 28th Presidential Election by INEC. Buhari is therefore today the President-elect and the All Progressives Congress the incoming government. It is therefore illogical to accuse the President-elect and the incoming government of setting up a parallel government.

‘’It is either the outgoing Federal Executive Council has something to hide or is bent on sabotaging the incoming government. There can be no other reasons for the misplaced aggression that was exhibited in that ill-intentioned, unprovoked and vitriolic statement from the Jonathan government,’’ the party said.