Herdsmen Killings Dangerous To Buhari’s 2019 Presidential Ambition – APC

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has said that different interpretations of herdsmen killings in Benue and other parts of the country is destructive to the party’s 2019 presidential ambition.

National Public Secretary of the APC, Bolaji Abdullahi noted that the attacks if not immediately addressed would have negative consequences on Buhari’s administration in 2019.

Abdullahi stressed that the party was worried about the recent killings as pressure was being mounted to resolve the crisis as soon as possible.

He disclosed this on Thursday night at the reading of his book, “On A Platter of Gold,” held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

He said “We are worried with the way herdsmen kill people and we know it has the potential to affect our political fortune if we don’t deal with it decisively with the way we dealt with Boko Haram. If we fail to do that, we also know the consequences because we had a recent experience.

“The significant part of it is that even as we speak, there are also interpretation of what is going on regarding the herdsmen that approximate closely the interpretation President Jonathan was being given about Boko Haram; you will recall that some people said what happened in Benue was communal clash, some said it was Ortom who had some militias and refused to pay them and it was the militias who turned their weapons against the people.

“I don’t speak for Buhari but for the party. It is frightening for us to hear this, at the party level, we are having conversation, that we want to see the president and tell him that this interpretation you are being given is potentially destructive to our party and your own position as the president and potential candidate of the party.”

Speaking on why Buhari has not visited Benue since the killings, Abdullahi defended the president, saying “We don’t know the information the president has and we don’t know what the security people are telling him. When you are in power, you are being held hostage.

“APC is optimistic that the herdsmen challenge would be solved as it is the responsibility of the APC-led federal government to nip the crisis in the bud, but the people should be warned to be less inflammatory about the issue on ground.

“If the way to solve the herdsmen killings was to set up cattle colonies, such move should be embraced by Nigerians rather than playing the role of critics.”