Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to sack the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and one of the presidential spokesmen, Mr Garba Shehu.
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), which called for the sacking of Mr Mohammed and Mr Shehu, accused the two officials of ‘misinforming Nigerians and “turning Nigeria into a laughing stock in the international sphere.”
In a statement signed by the Secretary-General of CNPP, Mr Willy Ezugwu, on Sunday, the group stressed that the two persons “have contributed to the poor image of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari government would have been perceived in a better light without the duo,” CNPP, which is an umbrella body of all registered political parties and political associations in the country, stated in the statement.
Continuing, it noted that, “To most Nigerians, the Minister of Information represents a face of misinformation, just like the presidential adviser, Garba Shehu and their responses or reactions to national issues have continued to put in present government sincerity in doubt.”
“For instance, when did the Minister of Information realise that Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index is unreliable?
“The Minister has been working very hard, albeit unsuccessfully, to discredit the current corruption rating of Nigeria among the most corrupted in the world.
“However, the CNPP recalls that as an opposition spokesman, the Minister had at no time doubted the TI CPI on Nigeria.
“Less than eight years ago, Lai Mohammed described Nigeria’s low corruption rating as a reflection of the harvest of corruption scandals under then-President Goodluck Jonathan administration, which he claimed was attested to by TI.
“He once urged then President Jonathan to “wake from his slumber and face the reality that corruption is fast eating deep into the soul of Nigeria”, based on low corruption rating.
“How come the Minister of Information is busy trying to discredit an organisation he had always hailed as opposition spokesman?
“Nearly five years after Lai Mohammed declared that insurgents have been technically defeated, the President Buhari administration has not been able to proactively stopped Boko Haram insurgents, rather, new phases of terrorism like banditry and killer headers activities took a turn for the worse.
“Just like the perception of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration on security has changed, with renewed hope since the sack of the former Service Chiefs, we urge President Buhari to give his administration a fresh breath by firing the two top information managers,” the CNPP said.
