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•Why I stayed away from Eagle Square, by Babangida

•Tafida attacks Ciroma

Akeem Oyetunji, Abuja & Abu-Sadeeq Amokpa, Minna

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday came down hard on fellow presidential aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ‘defenders of Northern interest’ who have criticised his handling of the Abuja bomb blasts on independence day.

He said he would not allow them intimidate him and hold the country to ransom.

Former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; former National Security Adviser (NSA), Lt-General Aliyu Gusau (rtd) and Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State had criticised Jonathan for using the bombings, in which 10 people died, to witchhunt political opponents.

The Director-General (DG) of the Babangida Campaign Organisation and Chairman of Daar Communications, Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, was quizzed by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) over the incident.

But, in his letter, entitled ‘In Defence of Life, Liberty and Property’ to his friends on the popular social network site, Facebook, yesterday, Jonathan told Babangida, Atiku, Gusau and Saraki that the country was bigger than them and their interests.

He also said that he would not succumb to any amount of blackmail from them. “Nigeria is bigger than any individual or any collection of individuals. Nobody can hold a country of 150 million people to ransom any more. The interest of a few conceited, ill-motivated individuals cannot be bigger than our national aspirations,” he said.

The letter reads: “My dear friends on facebook, It is with a heavy heart that I read your comments and mails with respect to the sad events that occurred on the day we were celebrating 50 years of our existence as a nation and discussing the need to chart a new course for our future.

“Although the security agencies put in significant efforts to pre-empt the attacks, it is very sad that lives of innocent Nigerians were lost to this heartless act against the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Again, I offer my condolences to the families of the victims in particular and the nation in general.

“Although this is somewhat a new experience for us, especially as bombings had never taken place in the Federal Capital Territory before last Friday’s incident, security agencies have been instructed to leave no stone unturned in securing lives and property.

“Dear friends, if the aim of the attackers is to create a sense of insecurity and panic across the nation in order to advance their narrow interests, Nigerians will stand up to them and make it clear that they cannot be intimidated.

“I want to assure Nigerians that blackmail and intimidation will not stop the Federal Government from doing the right thing. Whoever is found culpable will face the full weight of the law. I have requested the security agencies to do their work for our citizens will accept nothing less than justice. We would be failing the past, present and future generations of Nigerians if we do not get to the root of this dastardly act and seek justice the way it should be done in a civilised society such as ours.

“It is unfortunate that an unprecedented national tragedy of this nature has been politicised by people whose only interest is what they can get from the country and not what the country can get from them. They specialise in playing one part of the country against the other and riding on sectional sentiments to promote their narrow ambitions. I believe that Nigerians have grown beyond this parochial mentality.

“To prove to you that their interests are personal and not for the people they claim to represent, you will notice that while this administration has spent considerable time and resources as well as focused attention on the recent floods in Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Jigawa states and the cholera epidemic in certain parts of Nigeria as well as the lead poisoning that has consumed 400 children in Zamfara State, these so-called concerned people have not been known to address any of these issues nor offer a word of succour to the victims. This is irrefutable proof that their only focus is how to get power and not the wellbeing of the long suffering people of Nigeria whom I have sworn to Almighty God to protect.

“At this critical time, we should be mourning the dead and praying for the families left behind. What they need at this sad hour is not politics but compassion and empathy.”

Meanwhile, Babangida has described as idiotic the insinuation that he had a hand in the bomb blasts.

Speaking at his Hill-top mansion in Minna, the Niger State capital, the former military leader insisted that the unity of the country was uppermost in his mind “than any one thinks”.

“It will be idiotic for anyone to link me to that bomb blast because I know what the unity of this country means and that was why we fought to keep it together. So, why should I get involved in such a mess?”

“Naturally, when things like this happen, people will cast their imaginative and fertile minds into action. They are more hasty in drawing conclusions, especially when people like us are mentioned. This is the price we pay for the love of our country and as politicians.

“There were lapses somewhere, whether we like it or not. No one has disputed that government was given prior information of about four to five days about the impending disaster and yet nothing was done. In a situation like this which has to do with human lives, you do not need more than 24 hours to remedy an impending situation.

“The British Intelligence Unit and others had warned on the impending disaster and the reaction should have been instant because such information is vital and much time is not needed to take precautionary measures. Where the right official steps were taken, our well-trained outfits would have been tactically mobilised to react swiftly,” he fumed.

On his absence from the jubilee celebration in Abuja, he said he was put off by the “freaky spendings on the occasion by the government.”

According to Babangida, the over N6 billion spent could have been used for developmental projects rather than on Independence celebration, arguing that if the celebration had been approached the way the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua proposed, it would not have cost the country up to N1 billion.

In Abuja, the Jonathan/ Sambo Campaign Organisation has described the statement credited to the leader of Northern Political Leaders Forum, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, that Jonathan should resign before the end of the week, as misplaced and uncalled for. He called on him to retract it immediately.

Dr. Dallahtu Tafida, the Director-General of the organisation, while fielding questions from State House correspondents yesterday, insisted that the former Finance Minister may have been misquoted “but if the story is true, it should be retracted immediately.”

“For Ciroma to ask the President to resign is too harsh. The issue of calling for impeachment is misplaced. You don’t just say you want to impeach for the sake of it. If they don’t want us to have a smooth transition, it is too bad. After all, whether it is IBB, Atiku, Saraki , Gusau or Jonathan, whoever gets it is PDP. We have not even reached the point where we should be fighting”.