Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu has been asked to focus his media propaganda on the unpleasant economic situation and general hardship the people of Nigeria are suffering rather than trying to interfere and influence the conduct of the judiciary with his unguarded statements.
The president of the Citizens Watch Nigeria, Omoba Aigbegbele on Monday, April 4, lampooned Shehu for comments he recently made about former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh.
Garba Shehu had declared that Badeh, who is currently under trial for diversion of public funds, used money meant to buy arms for the troops fighting Boko Haram to build palaces in Abuja.
In reaction, Omoba described Shehu’s utterances as an attempt to rubbish the image of the ex-service chief.
“This is a deliberately false and misleading statement by Mallam Garba Shehu which was calculated to tarnish the unblemished professional reputation of a distinguished professional, who has spent the better part of his life protecting and defending this country from external aggression and securing the territorial integrity of Nigeria.”
“Shehu went beyond the charges against Badeh. There is not a single allegation in the charges against the former Chief of Defence Staff that he built palaces in Abuja with monies given to him to procure arms to secure his community.”
“Secondly, it is quite unimaginable of the Senior Special Assistant to use the scourge of the Boko Haram terrorists to score cheap political points, knowing full well that no one is exempted from the terrorists and their nefarious activities. Even President Buhari was also once attacked by the same group.”
Omoba noted that Shehu, by his comments, had already declared Badeh guilty of the crime even though the ex-service chief had pleaded not guilty in court.
“It is, therefore, a matter of grave concern that he would make such unguarded pronouncements about a matter, which is currently subjudicial, and to which the former Chief of Defence Staff has pleaded ‘not guilty’.”
“This again is a hollow attempt to unduly interfere with the functions of the judiciary, a conduct, which is repugnant to the constitutional principle of separation of powers. Shehu should rightly direct his media and publicity functions to address the increasingly deteriorating plight of the good people of Nigeria.”
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