Femi Adesina, President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, has taken a swipe at former President Olusegun Obasanjo for what he believes is his administration’s poor handling of the country’s security challenges.
On Wednesday, the former President suggested that, in light of the country’s growing insecurity, establishing state police would be a better option than community policing.
Obasanjo made the suggestion during a courtesy visit to Abeokuta by the leadership of the National Association of Former Local Government Chairmen in Nigeria.
However, Adesina chastised Obasanjo, insisting that when he had the opportunity to restructure the country’s security architecture, he squandered it.
“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has a right to hold a different opinion from what he held in the past but I recall that under him, restructuring of the federation was a key issue that Afenifere fought for, and then there was the issue of state police which also resonated loudly under him but he didn’t do anything in eight years. Like I said, he has a right to change his mind now but it doesn’t change the fact that he had the opportunity to do something about it and did not”.
When asked about the primary impediment to President Buhari’s restructuring, Adesina explained that the executive branch is not the custodian of political will.
Many have called for restructuring over the years, convinced that it is the only viable solution to the country’s plethora of problems.
Chief Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is one of those who have made that call.
On Monday, he called for the formation of an Interim National Government following the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure, which would pave the way for the country’s new constitution.
But reacting to this, Adesina, said: “to the best of my unlearned knowledge, it is not in our Constitution for an interim government to be set up”.