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PGF DG knocks PDP, Adegboruwa over condemnation of Buhari’s broadcast

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…Prays for Kyari, El – rufai, Mohammed recovery from COVID 19

The Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman has berated critics of the Buhari administration over prejudiced condemnation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s nationwide address on the latest efforts by Federal Government in curbing the spread of coronavirus in the country.

He also prayed for the speedy recovery of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Bauchi State, Sen. Bala Mohammed and all those infected by Covid-19 in the country.

In a statement personally issued in Abuja on Monday, Lukman knocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hunan right lawyer, Ebunolu Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria for misconstruing the President’s speech on the Covid 19 pandemic on Sunday, failing to appreciate government’s efforts and playing dirty politics with achievements made so far.

Picking on both the oppisition party and the legal luminary, the Director General said “interestingly, immediately following the address, on the same day, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiya described the President’s speech as “empty and failed to address the salient demands of the impact of the scourge (of Covid-19) on the nation.”

“The statement of the PDP was complimented, perhaps inadvertently, by another statement from a private lawyer, Mr. Ebun-olu Adegboruwa SAN who condemned some of the measures announced by the President, which include restriction of movements in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun as illegal, arguing that the President “has not invoked his powers under the Constitution to declare any state of emergency, which must be approved by the National Assembly.”

Lukman said these responses clearly completely ignore the gravity of the challenges and imagine that the problems can be reduced to politics and legal arguments.

He said “they all miss the point, very conveniently, that the world, including Nigeria, is fighting a war that is a threat to human life in a manner that the world has never experienced before.

“It is an unconventional challenge such that the enemy, Covid-19, doesn’t respect politics, legality or recurse to any form of interest. It was in fact in recognition of this that the President declared that we are all as individuals the ‘greatest weapon to fight’ the war.

“After all the hue and cry, prior to the President’s broadcast, lamenting the slow responses from government in taking measures to protect citizens against the spread of the virus in the country, one would have expect some attempt to direct attention in the country to strengthen the capacity of the government to succeed in containing the spread of the virus.

“Or could PDP be arguing that there are other more effective measures to contain the spread of the virus, which the President has failed to take? Or could Mr. Adegboruwa be implying that there are legal provisions that could be invoked that would ensure containment of the spread of the virus while at the same time respecting the rights of citizens to move freely?

“Why should we, as Nigerians, be so unfair to ourselves and our leaders to the extent that it would appear we have lost sight of the fact that to be rational and logical, is first and foremost to ensure the protection of life.

“Once human life is at risk, we must take every step required to safeguard human life. Coincidentally, this was the point amplified by Lee Hsien Loong, the Sigaporean Prime Minister, on the same day of President Buhari’s broadcast, while featuring on CNN Global Public Square hosted by Fareed Zakaria. With Singapore today recognised as one of the successful countries.”

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