Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose on Thursday alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari aborted his trip to the oil-rich Ogoni land in Rivers state, as a result of the assassination threat from the Niger Delta Avengers.
A militant had told one of the hosts of UK-based Radio Biafra that Buhari “should sign his death warrant” before his visit to Ogoni, and the president ended up delegating Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to the landmark flag-off of the clean-up of Ogoni.
Fayose in a statement by his media aide, Lere Olayinka said that the President was afraid of the Niger Delta Militants, advising Nigerians to seek help elsewhere and depend on him (Buhari).
The statement reads: “It is shameful and embarrassing that a retired military general could succumb to threat from militants despite what he told Nigerians that he was going to lead from the fronts.
“By not going to Ogoni today, because of threat from the NDA, our president has shown that he is actually afraid of the militants and the best thing to do in a situation like this is to dialogue with the militants so as to save Nigeria economy from imminent collapse.
“It also shows that the president’s ability to secure Nigeria and its people is doubtful, because if the president could succumb to threat from militants and abandon his official function for his deputy, ordinary Nigerians should seek help elsewhere.
“The president should therefore save Nigeria the agony of military misadventure in the Niger Delta by holding dialogue with the militants with a view to resolving their grievances. He should emulate late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua by having a roundtable talks with the Niger Delta militants.”