Ruga settlements, not my initiative - GEJ fires back at Lalong
- Former president Goodluck Jonathan has stated that contrary to claims made by Governor Simon Lalong, the RUGA settlements currently being implemented nationwide was not his initiative
- According to Jonathan, Nigerians are used to the Buhari administration and its privies blaming all their challenges on his administration, and this latest act of dereliction of duty is therefore not surprising
- The ex president also noted that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in a statement, denied that the settlements were being supervised by his office
- Jonathan stressed that his administration was able to relatively manage the herdsmen crisis because it implemented the principle of crime and punishment
Former president Goodluck Jonathan has responded to comments attributed to Governor Solomon Lalong of Plateau, and insisted that the RUGA settlements currently being implemented nationwide for herdsmen by the Buhari regime was not his initiative.
In a statement released by a former aide, Reno Omokri, the former president also pushed back on Lalong’s comments that he (Jonathan) should be blamed for the herdsmen crisis.
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Legit.ng notes that Jonathan insisted that his administration did not conceive or budget for the settlements, knows and wants nothing to do with it.
The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to comments by the governor of Plateau State, Mr Solomon Lalong, in which he claims that the RUGA settlements currently being implemented nationwide for herdsmen by the Buhari regime are a Jonathan administration initiative and that former president Goodluck Jonathan should be blamed for the crisis occasioned by herdsmen which have risen to a head in recent times.
“Mr Lalong, after meeting with General Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, July 1, 2019, then went on to say "If he (Dr Jonathan) had done that (RUGA) at that time, we would not be fighting insecurity between herders and farmers today.”
“Nigerians are used to the Buhari administration and its privies blaming all their challenges on the Jonathan administration and this latest act of dereliction of duty is therefore not surprising.
“Obviously, the Buhari regime is unaware that they have become a laughing stock in the international community, as evidenced by the total absence of any worthy representation at their recent events, because the world knows that you are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the so-called RUGA herdsmen settlements being planned nationwide is not an initiative of the Jonathan administration. We did not conceive or budget for it and we know and want nothing to do with it.”
The ex president’s aide explained: “What the Jonathan administration initiated was a ₦100 billion agricultural loan to be disbursed by the Central Bank of Nigeria for states in northern Nigeria, who wished to build cattle ranches for modern processing of beef which would then be transported nationwide as beef, rather than cattle rearing.
“RUGA, on the other hand, is not a loan, but a government intervention with public funds in a purely private business, with the attendant acquisition of public land to be used for such private business in perpetuity.”
The former president also noted that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in a statement, denied that the settlements were being supervised by his office.
He said: “We also ask Nigerians to witness that even Professor Yemi Osinbajo has washed his hands off the scheme in a statement he released four days ago.
“It will be recalled that on Friday, June 28, 2019, Pastor Osinbajo released a statement saying inter alia "Contrary to claims reported in sections of the media, the establishment of Ruga settlements is not being supervised by the Office of the Vice President.".
“After being rejected and denied by the deputy in their own administration, we can, therefore, understand their desperation to look for a scapegoat. However, much as we sympathised with them in their panic, that scapegoat will not be president Jonathan.
“For the avoidance of doubt, let me state that the Jonathan administration was able to relatively manage the herdsmen crisis because we implemented the principle of crime and punishment.
“Whenever there was a crime committed by errant herdsmen, the then government put machinery in motion to arrest, try and punish the perpetrators of such crimes.
“Also, then president Jonathan did not show, either by action or by words, any partiality for either side in such clashes.
“But most importantly, that administration had an ethnic balance in the nation's military, police and paramilitary forces in keeping with the constitutional principle of federal character. That balance ensured that there was objectivity in dealing with issues involving insecurity in the country.
“Whether there is such balance today is left for Nigerians to judge.”
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Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau state said that former president, Goodluck Jonathan, budgeted N10 billion for the Ruga settlement programme, but the programme wasn’t implemented.
The Plateau governor said this at the presidential villa on Monday, July 1, where he met with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Lalong said if the money budgeted by Jonathan was put to use, there would have been no need to address a farmers-herders conflict now.
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Source: Legit.ng
