FG plotting to sabotage handover, APC alleges

The All Progressives Congress on Thursday accused the Goodluck Jonathan administration of plotting to hinder a smooth handover of power on May 29.

It alleged   that it was becoming apparent that the outgoing government would not fully cooperate with the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari, despite its public posturing in that regard.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, described as an act of hostility, the “unnecessary vituperation against the incoming Buhari administration by the Jonathan government.”

It said the “unnecessary vituperation’’ was  not just because of the terms of reference of the Buhari transition committee, but a part of an orchestrated plot to sabotage the incoming government.

The APC therefore rejected what it referred to as the continued blackmail by the government and wondered whether the concession of defeat by the President to Buhari had now become a shield for all its wrongdoings.

It said, “We are sick and tired of being blackmailed by the Jonathanians. Gen. Buhari won the March 28 presidential election fair and square, having satisfied both constitutional and other statutory requirements.

“We have no apology for our victory and the concession of defeat – while it may have increased the political stock of   President Jonathan – has by no means diminished the historic and emphatic victory of Gen. Buhari and the APC.”

The APC said that while the outgoing government had earlier issued a memo to all ministries, departments and agencies to make sure their handover notes were ready by April 20, it   reversed itself and said that the handover notes would not be ready until May 14.

The   statement added, ‘’With the new date, the Buhari transition committee will have little or no time to take a thorough look at the handover notes or seek clarification on knotty issues, effectively handing it (Buhari transition committee) a fait accompli as far as the handover notes are concerned.

“This does not augur well for a smooth transition and gives the impression that the outgoing administration is trying to hide something. By its dilly-dallying on the date for the readiness of the handover notes from the MDAs, the administration’s posturing that it is ready to hand over has been exposed as nothing but a smokescreen.”

The party also described as “illogical and strange,” the claim by the government that the President-elect was trying to set up a parallel government simply because he had set up his own transition committee and given it terms of reference.