Don’t duck, address Babachir Lawal’s pointed allegations on terrorism, TMSG tells ex-VP Atiku

The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of dodging and sidestepping the most important issue raised against him by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal after leaving the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, the group insisted that the posers raised by Atiku’s former ally are too grave to be ignored.

The statement read in part: “We find curious and interesting the recent public spat between one-time Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar because of issues raised by Lawal.

“But it was surprising that in responding to allegations against the Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), his camp deliberately ignored one of the key issues raised by his former political ally.

“We are aware that the Atiku team did not hold back in tackling Babachir Lawal’s rigging claims or the corruption allegations against their principal while also questioning his integrity, but like many Nigerians, we noticed the absolute silence on issues bordering on insecurity in the land.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the former SGF, who had, within hours of accusing Atiku Abubakar of rigging the ADC primaries and pulling out of ADC, appeared on a TV programme where he argued that the former Vice President had never condemned any of the kidnappings or massive killings across the country. He also challenged anyone to prove him wrong.

“And because the allegations were grave, we would have expected a robust riposte as well as a possible threat of legal actions from the former Vice President or his camp, but what we have is cold silence. This is curious.”

The group argued that former Vice President Abubakar would rather deflect and blame the government for insecurity than outrightly condemn groups waging war against the country.

“Indeed, when we cast our mind back to Atiku Abubakar’s previous comments on insecurity in the land, we noticed that beyond accusing the President Bola Tinubu administration of not tackling security challenges, as he did to the previous governments of President Jonathan and Buhari, he hardly ever had harsh words for the Fulani militia unleashing terror in North West Nigeria, especially or even Boko Haram.

“On the contrary, he has, on at least one occasion, berated the military for allegedly carrying out airstrikes on civilians in a community on the Borno-Yobe border, without even giving the armed forces the benefit of doubt.

“We are also aware that in one instance, he condemned an act of religious violence via his social media platform, and he immediately walked back his condemnation by deleting the post.

“While we are not outrightly accusing the former Vice President of complicity in the country’s security challenges, the poser raised by a man who had been one of his closest political allies in recent months cannot be brushed aside.

“We also know that even during the Buhari era, he had accused the late President of not doing enough to tackle insecurity while posturing as the only politician that could bring an end to bloodletting. So we wonder if there is something he knows that we all don’t? “Nigerians would really want to know”, TMSG noted.