by Musa Abdullahi
The APC Presidential Campaign Organization (APCCO) yesterday raised questions about President Goodluck Jonathan’s sincerity over compensation to families of Immigration recruitment tragedy.
The Party condemned the timing at which the President gave jobs, and handed cash gifts to those killed while seeking for employment opportunities.
“We wanted to embarrass the President with our nationwide rally on Monday to commemorate one year young people died trying to get jobs but it seems the President’s team beat us to the game” a source within the party tells NewsWireNGR.
Another Party Chieftain who doesn’t want his name mentioned said, “We are not deterred by his actions (reacting to Jonathan’s gift to bereaved families) as he did it for political gains, our candle light procession is still on and nothing will stop the ‘change’ movement”.
The APCCO told Nigerians not to be deceived by President Jonathan’s tokenism of duplicity and its attempt to claim credibility it never has.
Reacting to the five million donations to each of the 15 families of Nigerian job seekers who died during the March 2014 Immigration recruitment exercise, the APCCO explained that it had no quarrel with bringing relief to the families of the victims, including automatic employment to 33 members of the families.
The media spokesman of the Campaign, Malam Garba Shehu, however, criticized the insincerity of the Jonathan administration in its attempt to throw dust in the eyes of Nigerians by pretending to be caring on the first anniversary of the Immigration recruitment tragedy.
According to Malam Shehu, paying compensation to the families of the victims is a welcome idea, but the lack of sincerity by the Jonathan’s government has morally tainted what was supposed to be a humanitarian gesture.
Malam Shehu explained that it was morally outrageous to spare those public officials whose greed had led Nigeria to the March 2014 Immigration recruitment tragedy.
He said it was not enough to pay compensation to the families of the promising Nigerians killed in that stampede, while at the same time refusing to hold those officials accountable for the incident.
The APC Media Campaign spokesman said no sensitive government would have remained indifferent to the actions of the government officials whose rapacity landed Nigeria into such avoidable human disaster.
He said in other societies, such officials would have resigned automatically and apologized to the people.
Malam Shehu alleged that the Jonathan government was characterized by arrogant insensitivity to public feelings and “notorious tendency to promote and entrench impunity by creating sacred cows even where human lives were lost.”
He noted that accountability was the hallmark of a democratic government, adding that, the Jonathan government has disdain for accountability.
