FG describes US Congressman moves to stall American security assistance to Nigeria as “sadly out of tune with reality”
The Federal Government has described the published letter from US Congressman Tom Marino to Secretary of State John Kerry, asking the US to withhold security assistance to Nigeria, on the strength of some imaginary infraction by the Buhari Administration, as out of tune with current realities.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Congressman Marino was poorly informed and urged him to get first hand information from the US Embassy in Nigeria or any other credible source before engaging in what is nothing but “a propaganda of his own imagination.”
The Minister said the Congressman has demonstrated a poor understanding of global security issues by asking the US to refrain from selling warplanes and other military equipment to Nigeria based on a faulty premise.
‘’Insecurity anywhere is insecurity everywhere. Had Congressman Marino understood this, he would not have made the kind of call he made concerning the US security assistance to Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency that Nigeria has decisively dealt with under President Muhammadu Buhari is not just a Nigerian problem but a regional and international crisis,’’ he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said Congressman Marino definitely did not have Nigeria in mind when he wrote that the US should withhold security assistance to Nigeria until President Buhari ‘demonstrates a commitment to inclusive government and the most basic tenets of democracy: freedom to assemble and freedom of speech’.
”An Administration that operates purely on the basis of respect for the rule of law and a strict adherence to constitutional order is not one to deny the citizens of their constitutionally-guaranteed rights. This Administration therefore does not need the goading of Congressman Marino or anyone for that matter to do what is right.
