Buhari is emotionally attached to herdsmen – Akeredolu

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Wednesday slammed President Muhammadu Buhari’s opposition to his directive for herdsmen to vacate Ondo forests, saying it pointed to a threat to the corporate existence of Nigeria.

Peoples Gazette earlier reported that Mr. Akeredolu gave the herdsmen a seven-day ultimatum to vacate the forest reserves on basis that criminal acts were traced to their activities.

Reacting, Mr. Buhari, in a statement by his media aide, Shehu Garba, on Tuesday, said the governor lacked powers to drive the herdsmen away from the forests.

Mr. Akeredolu’s “action could set off a chain of events which the makers of our constitution foresaw and tried to guard against,” the president said.

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Akeredolu’s information commissioner Donald Ojogo expressed his displeasure at Mr. Buhari’s reaction, accusing him of being emotionally attached to the herdsmen.

Mr. Ojogo in a statement said that the president’s response stated “unambiguously, the position of the Federal Government.”

While buttressing Mr. Akeredolu’s order, the commissioner said: “The Ondo State Government did not ask Fulani to leave the state. The governor said herdsmen who are unregistered should leave our forests.

“The statement from Garba Shehu is a brazen display of emotional attachments and it’s very inimical to the corporate existence of Nigeria.

“We need clearly defined actions on the part of the Federal Government to decimate the erroneous impression that the inspiration of these criminal elements masquerading as herdsmen is that of power. Our unity is threatened, no doubt.

“It (statement) states in a breath that the governor fights crime with passion while it is prevaricating on the atrocities.

“The question is, are the herdsmen who are perpetrating murder, kidnapping, and robbery more important than government and even the Federal government in this case?

“Ethnic nationality and activism on the part of anyone hiding under the Presidency or federal government is an ill wind.”