The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Equity and Transparency (CESJET)

  • Centre berates Atiku over attempt to taint COAS, Buratai’s integrity

    … demands apology or to face legal action
    The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET), has berated the Presidential Candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for attempting to taint the person and office of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai.
    Atiku had listed Buratai among 30 persons he claimed were corrupt and working for President Muhammadu Buhari.
    Reacting, the centre said it was wrong for Atiku to drag the army chief into partisan politics.
    Osaloni Gbemisola osadua Esq, Executive Director, while addressing a press conference on Tuesday, warned the PDP presidential flagbearer against peddling falsehood  that could cause injury to the integrity of others,
    He said, “The pressure he is under, from political barometric as of today, is beyond the realization that he is set to lose the presidential election when it holds in a few days from now, the pressure is coming from the appreciation that the result of the polls will permanently and conclusively retire him from politics.
    “Rather than heralding a befitting end to an illustrious political career, this damning retirement would demystify Atiku Abubakar’s in the annals of Nigeria’s political history.
    The PDP presidential candidate, in fairness to him having not been ever arraigned talk less of being convicted, goes around with the burden of corruption, heavy enough for himself to have acknowledged that allegations of corruption is the heaviest burden he has to carry in his failed quest to rule Nigeria.
    “Even though he has now embarked on a revisionism, Atiku Abubakar’s former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, when he has prime contact with the PDP current candidate described him as the most corrupt Nigerian there was. We sympathize with him that he has to go around with this kind of tarnish.
    “But it beats the imagination that this same Atiku Abubakar, irrespective of how desperate he has become in his bid to fend off an enforced retirement, is now wildly accusing other upstanding Nigerians of corruption. Our initial thought was that overzealous aides went beyond their briefs to make such accusations on behalf of Atiku Abubakar but we have since learnt that he is in on the game after waiting a considerable time without him walking back the release of the list by one Phrank Shaibu, who is said to be his Special Assistant on Public Communications.
    “With the names that made Atiku’s list of corrupt persons connected to President Muhammadu Buhari, even the electorates that will cast the losing votes for him should at this point begin to question the extent to which their choice candidate has succumbed to psychosis.  The list confirmed that Atiku Abubakar’s desperation no longer has much to do about winning but is now the manifestation of a man that has become embittered by the prospect of losing to the extent that he maniacally wants to drag down everyone with him.
    “First, the list went on to name the likes of Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Ayodele Oke, the suspended Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). This goes to show that Atiku is obsessed with finding allegations of corruption against President Buhari to the point where the PDP candidate continues to accuse him of being connected to the people he has sacked.
    We also saw Bola Tinubu, former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the APC; Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari and other past and serving appointees making the list even when they have never been convicted by any court, save the circus of public opinion convened by Atikulooters.
    “Most infuriating for Nigerians is Atiku Abubakar’s indiscretion in including names of patriots like Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, which is wrong on many levels.
    “We consider it most unpatriotic to insult a man that is leading Nigerian troops against terrorist in this manner without substantiating the allegations of corruption against him. It is on record that the Code of Conduct Bureau has cleared him long ago and he has not been convicted by any law court. We have followed Buratai antecedents and know him as an honest and transparent man, who has conducted himself appropriately in office.
    “It is ridiculous how the same candidate that was harping on the need for the military to be apolitical to now be the one trying to drag the Army into politics.
    “The inclusion of a serving military chief in his phantom list is consistent with the errands that Atiku’s minions and urchins have been running on his behalf for several months now. These errands, as have been reported, are meant to undermine the military and provoke a leadership change so that pro-coup-plot officers that are sympathetic to reversing Atiku’s unfolding political twilight will come into office.
    This is a brazen threat against our democracy and must not be received halfheartedly. Nigerians must rise up across party line to demand that Atiku contain whatever emotional fall out arising from his imminent loss to himself and not drag the country down with him.
     “CESJET warns that attempts by desperate politicians to drag the Army as an institution into politics should be totally discarded as by well-meaning Nigerians will resist such plot using all permissible means.
    “There is no law that precludes people from becoming insane by reason of emotional stress brought on by the glaring confirmation of loss at the polls. What the Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) and indeed the entire Nigerians will not condone is when the insanity involves the patient going berserk and indiscriminately throwing muds at honorable citizens, whose weakest moments trump Atiku at his most pious.
    “Atiku’s political fortunes are already sinking. It would hurt his credibility if angry Nigerians are further mobilized to increase the margin by which he will be defeated. This will be the case in the event that he continues to drag the wrong persons into his private war with his emotional trauma.
    “In addition to demanding that the PDP presidential candidate ceases and desists from peddling rumours that cause injury to the integrity of others, CESJET hereby demand an apology from Atiku Abubakar and his hirelings.
    “Considering the impact of Atiku’s indiscretion on the man leading the counter-Insurgency operations in Nigeria, we shall be left with no option in this case than to institute a legal action against him in court if the position of the Chief of Army Staff is not immediately withdrawn from his fake list and apology tendered to General Buratai within two weeks from today.”

  • Torrents of Tributes on Fallen Heroes, Signs of national rebirth

    A human rights advocacy group, Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has said the show of emotion and barrage of tributes that greeted the death of Lt. Col Abu-Ali and six others is a testament that Nigerians recognise Boko Haram and it’s sponsors as a common enemy.

    Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Executive Director of CESJET, Joyce Adamu said such tributes and high accolades are the best tonic that every nation needs to give to her heroes.

    She, however, cautioned those she described as mischief makers who are trying to cash in on the death of the soldiers to create disunity amongst Nigeria.

    She said, “We are beginning to see that there are people manifesting their loss of humanity and see nothing wrong in attempting to cash in on these tragedies by making insinuations that have no place among right-thinking people.

    “Most of this depravity is manifested in claims that the Army suffered the casualty in the Boko Haram attacks because present conditions are worse than what obtained under former President Goodluck Jonathan. One would have expected that the Army and the Ministry of Defence would be allowed to properly investigate what went wrong to account for such casualty instead of jumping to conclusion.

    “We observed that these claims are being attributed to people who are not bold enough to reveal their identities and their so called interviews are mostly reported by cloned sites that attempt to pass off as objective, hard-working and credible news organisations. To say the least, this is the height of irresponsibility.

    She said the deaths of gallants soldiers who laid down their own lives to keep the rest of us safe should not be reduced into parodies and the subject of falsehood.

    According to her, those desperate to undermine President Buhari, and the COAS, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai should at least allow the graves of these great ones lie undisturbed by these sacrilegious act of desecrating the memory of the departed.

    She said, “in the wake of these national losses and those before them we should rather as a people be asking for who are the people that are helping Boko Haram terrorists to regroup, re-arm and launch attacks on the scales on which they have done between late September and now.

    “We should be demanding for the exposure of those that feeds the cells of the terror group with information on troops movement and deployment to the extent that they know when to attack.

    “Patriotic citizens that are genuinely interested in the wellbeing and future of the country would be giving encouragement to our troops not to lose courage but to be buoyed by the fallen soldiers in defending their fatherland.”

    Adamu called on soldiers to reinvigorate their fighting spirit and to continue to see their undertaking as service to God, nation and humanity.

  • Nigerians must unite against terrorism, says group

    Nigerians must unite against terrorism, says group

    Nigerians must stand up and unite against the fight of terrorism in the country following the deaths of Lt. Col Abu-Ali and six other military officers, Human Rights Advocacy group, Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has said.

    Executive Director of the group, Joyce Adamu, at a briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, said the reactions that followed the deaths of the gallant military officers bear witness that Nigerians must unit in the fight against terrorism.

    She described as unpatriotic and sacrilegious attempts by some individuals to politicize the death of the army officers.

    Adamu said: “No one should dance on the graves of these heroes. We are beginning to see that there are people manifesting their loss of humanity and see nothing wrong in attempting to cash in on these tragedies by making insinuations that have no place among right thinking people.

    “Most of this depravity is manifested in claims that the army suffered casualty in the Boko Haram attacks because present conditions are worse than what obtained under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “One would have expected that the army and the Ministry of Defence would be allowed to properly investigate what went wrong to account for such casualty instead of jumping to conclusion.

    “We observed that these claims are being attributed to people who are not bold enough to reveal their identities and their so called interviews are mostly reported by cloned sites that attempt to pass off as objective, hard-working and credible news organizations.

    “To say the least, this is the height of irresponsibility. The deaths of gallant soldiers who laid down their own lives to keep the rest of us safe should not be reduced into parodies and the subject of falsehood.”

    She said at a period where the nation is grieving over the death of the soldiers, patriotic citizens who are genuinely interested in the wellbeing and future of the country would be giving encouragement to our troops not to lose courage but to be buoyed by the fallen soldiers in defending their fatherland.

    According to her, those who are desperate to castigate President Muhammadu Buhari and COAS, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai for political reasons should at least allow the bereaved families mourn their loved ones with dignity without turning these late heroes into fodder for an ill- advised debate.

    “In the wake of these national losses and those before them we should rather as a people be asking for who are the people that are helping Boko Haram terrorists to regroup, re-arm and launch attacks on the scales on which they have done between late September and now.

    “We should be demanding for the exposure of those that feeds the cells of the terror group with information on troop’s movement and deployment to the extent that they know when to attack.

    Adamu urged soldiers to reinvigorate their fighting spirit and to continue to see their undertaking as service to God, nation and humanity, adding that the numerous tributes to the fallen heroes from Nigerians across all divides are testament that Nigerians appreciate the sacrifices of the military in the fight against terrorism.

     

  • Group lauds Buhari for maitaining stability in education

    Group lauds Buhari for maitaining stability in education

    The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET), has commended President Muhammadu Buhari, for maintaining stability in the nation’s higher institutions.

    No few than 10 institutions were shutdown for different reasons when Buhari took over last year.

    The group in a statement on Monday in Abuja noted that the president had largely avoided the prolonged shutdown of institutions that traditionally plague administrations in their first year in office.

    The statement by CESJET Executive Secretary, Ikpa Isaac, said that the relative stability maintained in the education sector was commendable despite the economic hardship that had limited government’s ability to implement projects.

    The statement reads: “The Education Minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu had started on a less than popular footing with some policies and somersault like the controversial termination of the tenure of Vice Chancellors of Federal Government owned universities. But he has since gained traction and working hard to justify his appointment by President Buhari.

    “The ministry under Adamu demonstrated that it is in tune with trends in education worldwide with his support for the ICT revolution at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.  This is a pointer to his clear understanding of how important the sector is to our country.

    “We however urge the Minister and by extension President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigerians expect further improvement in the sector when the economy begins to recover. Citizens will take the level of commitment to education in the past one year as the minimum basic and would not accept a decline for any reason.

    “We also urge that the sector should be modernized as rapidly as possible given the years of neglect that had left curricula outdated by several decades. The development at JAMB, which fully digitized and modernized most of its operation is the way to go and should be rolled across others facets of the education sector.”