Presidency says Abaribe deserves to replace Nnamdi Kanu in prison

The Presidency has reacted to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe's call for President Muhammadu Buhari's resignation over the spate on insecurity in the country.

Speaking at plenary on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, Ababribe said the Buhari-led government had employed the use of propaganda in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency and other security threats rather than addressing the matter head-on.

In a swift reaction, Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu described Abaribe's call as baseless adding that it only represented the view of an "arm chair critic".

He accused Abaribe of failure of failing to produce the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in court.

Abaribe stood surety for Kanu prior to his release and mysterious disappearance in September 2017.

According to Shehu, Abaribe should have replaced Kanu at the correctional facility.

"President Buhari to resign on what basis?," Shehu wondered.

"Just because some characters think that President Buhari should resign, then they expect him to quit. That call does not represent the opinion of the country. This is the opinion of an arm chair critic, known for making stray comments.

"If a leader like President Buhari needs to resign, there are millions of other Nigerians who need to resign, including Senator Abaribe who unlocked the door to enable the escape of traitorous and treasonable suspects.

"He signed the bond for the court to release Nnamdi Kanu on bail, from which moment the suspect disappeared into the thin air. Senator Abaribe has failed repeated deadlines to return Kanu to the court for trial, yet he has the effrontery with which to accuse someone of failing to the bidding of the law.

"This is a man who should have replaced the suspects he failed to produce in the correctional facility.

"Abaribe’s party raped the nation and left it collapsing in 2015 and President Buhari is fixing things up all the years he is in office.

"President Buhari is working hard to keep Nigeria and Nigerians out of the harm terrorists have unleashed in the entire Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa with the support of Nigerians and our foreign friends, he is going to finish off these terrorists. He alone can do it," he concluded.

Meanwhile, President Buhari has described the insecurity surge as surprising.

He has, however, vowed that harder times await bandits and terrorists in the country.