APC seeks international inquiry into assassination attempt on Buhari

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for an international inquiry into Wednesday’s assassination attempt on its leader, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to unravel the motive and the perpetrators of the dastardly act that could have plunged the country into a deep turmoil, had it succeeded.

John Odigie Oyegun

In a statement issued in Benin on Sunday by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, the party said it does not have the confidence that the Nigerian security agencies can carry out an impartial investigation, because they work for the government instead of the nation.

It said the call has become more urgent because the agents of the Federal Government have started muddling the waters with their sickening statements and actions on the attack.

“How does one explain a situation in which a man who is nothing but a pervert is now being paraded as the suspected ‘mastermind’ of the attack on Gen. Buhari? At what point was this man, who perhaps is nothing but a transvestite plying his trade, arrested? Is it not clear, from the statement released by Gen. Buhari himself after the attack, that it was clearly the handiwork of a suicide bomber?

“Could the person who drove the vehicle that was rammed into the General’s convoy have survived the explosion that was triggered by that action? Could the innocent passers-by who died in the blast not have been arrested and paraded as the ‘suspected masterminds’ if they had survived the blast? Clearly, the arrest of the pervert and his sickening description as a ‘suspected mastermind’ have kick-started the process of muddling the waters, as is usually the case with such high-profile cases.

“This is why an urgent international inquiry into the attack is desirable and imperative, and anyone who is committed to an impartial probe of the attack on the opposition leader should embrace our call,” APC said, adding that the insurgency and its spin-offs are now clearly beyond the capability of this Federal Government.

The party also said the call has been further justified by the statements and insinuations emanating from the ruling PDP and the presidency, both of which now seem to be pointing accusing fingers at the same party (APC) that is clearly the target of the failed assassination attempt on one of its top leaders.

“The questions to ask the purveyors of such repugnant theories are: Did the late Emir of Kano also stage the attack on his convoy? Did the other Emirs who were attacked, with at least one of them killed recently, also stage the attack against themselves? Did Gen. Muhammed Shuwa, who was killed by gunmen in Maiduguri in 2012, also stage the attack on himself?

“We are indeed in very interesting times, times that remind one of the failed attempt by the Administration of the late military dictator, Gen. Abacha, to blame pro-democracy group NADECO for the series of deadly attacks on pro-democracy activists during the tenure of the Administration.

“But we are confident that just as the truth about those who perpetrated those attacks was eventually revealed, the masterminds of the failed assassination attempt on our leader will definitely

be exposed sooner than later, whether or not the government agrees to our call for an international inquiry,” it said.