The office of the Presidency on Friday, March 13, 2015 chastised Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola after he accused President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to the state for the robbery incident in Lekki area of Lagos which left four people dead, describing his remarks as irresponsible and unintelligent.
Hours after the incident, Governor Fashola had appeared in a video and was quoted as saying: “This afternoon (Thursday), we lost three policemen in a robbery in Lekki and it is the first of its type in a very long time.
“But it was sad to have seen all our security personnel and all our security vehicles deployed to protect one man. All the vehicles we bought for the police were stationed to receive the President in Lagos while the citizens were left vulnerable.
“Those policemen have children and tonight, their mothers would be hard put to explain to them why daddy would not be coming home.”
Reacting to the above statement, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati who spoke to State House correspondents said Governor Fashola’s utterances made no sense as the President had a defined team that provides security anywhere he goes.
Abati further described as cheap and disgusting, the decision to play politics with the lives of citizens.
Abati said: “The visit of the President to Lagos or any part of the country does not necessitate the depletion of the police force active in that particular state or environment.
“The President has a defined team that protects him anywhere he goes.
“And again, President Jonathan does not need the entire police force in Lagos State to protect him in a state where he is loved by the people and where as we have seen, he enjoys overwhelming support in the lead up to the 2015 presidential elections.
“We do not only consider Governor Babatunde Fashola’s statement as irresponsible, we also think that it is unintelligent because it flies in the face of facts and it just does not add up.
“We hope that Governor Fashola, in an attempt to play politics, will not continue as his party does to play politics with the lives of people.
“People died in that unfortunate incident and President Jonathan commiserate with the affected families.
“But we will find it really cheap and disgusting that the governor of a state will now see that, an occasion of bereavement affecting the number of families, as an opportunity to play very cheap and irresponsible politics.”
