Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State said yesterday that it was
the President and Commander-in-Chief who is in possession of the whole security
report that has the final decision to make on the issue of the abducted
schoolgirls from Chibok. Fashola, who was one of the moderators at the
political debate tagged: Fixing Nigeria: The nuts and bolts organised by the
Kukah Centre, which also had the Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State in
attendance, said it was the President that was in control of the Nigerian Army
and the armed forces. Although, he noted that the dimension the Chibok issue
had taken had made it difficult to make a decision especially as it concerned
the safety of the girls, he said the abduction had become one of the issues
that should provoke debates about the method and clarity of the choices of words
that should be used.
Answering questions from some of the guests on the sincerity of
government in ensuring that the abducted girls regained their freedom, he said:
“As far as sincerity about Chibok is concerned, honestly, let me just say that
the problem that Chibok symbolises has assumed a dimension that is ordinarily
outside the authority and control of government. He stated that on national
security, he did not have the briefing that the president had, adding: “That is
why I have always said that the easiest thing to do is to criticise. Do you
have the facts that are at his disposal because it is only then that we can
have a very serious disagreement that on this set of facts this should be my
own choice. It is now a matter of insurgency and therefore the Nigerian Army
and the Nigerian Armed Forces have only one Commander-in-Chief and that is Mr.
President. The buck stops on his desk on this matter and it cannot be an easy
decision.
Vanguard Newspaper
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