Maina Saga: PDP Slams Presidency for Blaming Jonathan

• Maina’s governorship campaign posters flood Abuja, Kaduna

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a swipe at the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, for blaming the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan as being responsible for the return of the wanted former Chairman of Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina.

The party described Shehu’s statement as the height of absurdity, adding that Maina’s immediate family has come out openly with their position that President Muhammadu Buhari was responsible for his return..

In a statement issued thursday by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Dayo Adeyeye, the party accused the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government of playing to the gallery while claiming to fight corruption.

“We are not surprised on the postulation by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Shehu in which he blamed the past administration of Jonathan as being responsible for the return of fugitive Maina. This is to say the least the height of absurdity.

“The shenanigans surrounding the return of Maina who was under investigation and sacked by the previous administration of PDP is an issue Nigerians are privy to and even Maina’s immediate family has come out openly with their position that President Buhari was responsible for his return.

“May we therefore remind Shehu in case he has forgotten that the current administration is that of the APC and not PDP, so we wonder how PDP will be responsible for the mess created by President Buhari and his cabals.

“We had earlier in our response on this matter advised the government to properly investigate those responsible for this mess and bring them to justice, and we still stand on that because Nigerians are tired of excuses and blame game.

PDP said the body language of the APC government in the fight against corruption is mere propaganda and road-show, maintaining that the idea of blaming every misdemeanor on previous administration is symptomatic of party’s failure to deliver on promises.
“Its time Shehu and his likes resigned if they have nothing more to contribute to government. Finally, we urge the APC-led government to re-evaluate the inclusion of the likes of Shehu in the administration.

“A man who is fixated on blaming each and every mistake of this government on the PDP has certainly run out of ideas, and must even have lost the capacity for rational thinking. We wonder the damage he may be causing to this country with his continuous stay as an assistant to the president,” PDP said.

Meanwhile, Maina’s political campaign posters for the office of the governor of Borno State in 2019 are said to have flooded parts of Abuja and Kaduna metropolis.

One of the posters with Maina’s picture with a black caftan and black cap to match, posted at Apo Overhead Bridge adjourning the Apo Legislative Quarters, has dominant red and green colours, indicating that he is likely to pitch his tent with one of the parties with those colours.

The posters, which has the imprint of Borno Stakeholders’ Forum, has the caption: Hope 2019 and a promise: “Borno Shall be great Again and with Abdulrasheed Maina, Our Future is Guaranteed”.

Similar posters were pasted in some areas of Kaduna, where Maina’s family members reside and work.

It was also in Kaduna, where the family members yesterday carpeted unnamed cabal in the Buhari administration, which they claimed, had invited Maina to come out of hiding and work with the government of Change only to be betrayed and persecuted.

At a news conference in Kaduna on Wednesday, the spokesman for the Maina family, Malam Aliyu Maina, flanked by Salihu Maina and Ladan Abdullahi, vowed to expose those in the presidency behind his ordeal.