Northern group, Arewa Think Tank (ATT) has taken a swipe on the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi over his comments on stampede that killed several Nigerians in Oyo, Anambra and Abuja few days ago during the sharing of Christmas rice and other foodstuffs to the less privileged in the society by non-governmental organisations.
Obi had blamed the stampedes on the systemic failures in Nigeria amid widespread hardship in the country under the current administration.
In a statement by the convener of Arewa Think Tank, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu warned politicians against linking stampedes that occurred to President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms.
“We want to advise Peter Obi to be civic in his criticism of this government because he too contested to be president, if he had won, will he be happy receiving bashing against his administration as he is now doing to President Tinubu?
“However, we want to sympathise with the families of those who lost their lives in the tragic incidents which claimed over 70 lives, including about 40 children.
“We are very much aware that the tragedies underscored the importance of ensuring proper crowd management during such charitable activities, especially in the festive season.
“We want to acknowledge the noble intentions of organisers who seek to bring relief to vulnerable members of the society and admonish all individuals and organisations planning similar events to comply with the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun on liaising with the police formations for effective crowd control and security measures.
“The police and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was crucial to safeguarding lives and ensuring that such efforts to assist those in need do not inadvertently lead to further distress”.
He appealed to politicians and other stakeholders to refrain from politicising the unfortunate incidents, adding that those tragic events were in no way connected to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s economic reforms.
“It is worth noting that similar unfortunate occurrences have been recorded in the past, before the current administration, as such, making any attempt to link these tragedies to the President’s reforms is unfounded and sentimental.
“We believe that the reforms, which is repositioning the Nigerian economy for sustainable growth, are designed to uplift the lives of all Nigerians, particularly the vulnerable without causing distress,” the statement said.
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