UK Telegraph: Buhari funding persecution of political enemies with ‘Boko Haram donor funds’
The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of misappropriating hundreds of millions of pounds given to Nigeria to tackle insurgency.
A report by the UK Telegraph accused the current administration of using Britain’s anti-insurgency donation to fund a witch-hunt against opposition politicians.
The report said Britain had committed to spending £860 million in foreign aid to Nigeria to support the efforts to crush Boko Haram.
“Since Mr Buhari came to power last July, a number of prominent members of the former ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have been arrested and imprisoned without charge. Among those detained was the party’s official spokesperson,” the report read.
“Most of the arrests have been sanctioned by the government-controlled Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), which was set up to tackle corruption and receives funding from the Department for International Development.
“But while Mr Buhari’s government continues to use British aid money to target his political opponents, it is proving less effective at tackling the Islamist-run Boko Haram terrorist group.
“Much of the aid Britain provides to Nigeria is aimed at helping the country’s security forces to become more effective at tackling Boko Haram.
“Now political opponents claim he is returning to his old dictatorial ways, abusing British aid meant to improve Nigeria’s ability to tackle Boko Haram to consolidate his hold on power.”
The report said Boko Haram is gaining more grounds because of the president’s interest in fighting his opponents rather than providing security.
Telegraph said there is a growing concern among Western officials that the Nigerian military is failing to take effective action against militants.
“This is a scandal in the making,” the paper quoted a senior US official as saying.
“There is no doubt the growing strength of Boko Haram is because President Buhari is far more interested in settling scores with his political opponents than concentrating his energy on defeating terrorists.
“The result is that Nigeria is starting to look more and more like a police state while Boko Haram just goes from strength to strength.”
Another Western diplomat added: “If Buhari was serious about fighting corruption he would be focusing all of his efforts on targeting corruption that is impeding Nigeria’s ability to focus its efforts on tackling Boko Haram.”
Telegraph said the accusations that Nigeria is abusing British aid will add to the growing controversy over Downing Street’s commitment to spend 0.7 percent of GDP on the foreign aid budget.
this is by far the poorest report you have written. I would want to believe that as an informed media organization you would write against such ill intended reports, rather you are propagating it. The thing is, we in the northeast know that life is much more better now, than four years ago.
Humaira, no be so dem dey do am. Good or Bad, TheCable must report whatever any sponsored writer write that’s considered fit enough for news by this so-called foreign media, even local media inclusive. That does not mean it’s the truth as long as it’s not editorial opinion of TheCable, u can’t castigate them for publishing it. Analogous to this is saying if Fayose spews out his lies and venoms against Buhari, even though nonsensical all the time, news media should not report them. No, it doesn’t work like that. It must be reported. So, don’t bother your head about this sponsored write-up in UK media, na still PDP paid agents at work. They are present everywhere sharing their loots among journalists and hatchet men everywhere. Expect to read more of this. Na corruption dey fight back, make u no shake. U hear?
It is unfortunate that a reputable news agency can make such careless analysis.
Come or hire a reputable independent reporter to file a report on BH and corrupt former PDP officials.
Your report is disgusting.
Kallamu, you need to understand how this thing works. No be so dem dey do am. Good or Bad, TheCable must report whatever any sponsored writer writes that is considered fit enough for news or report by this so-called foreign media, even local media inclusive. That does not mean it’s the truth or view of of the news medium that reported it. As long as it’s not an editorial opinion of TheCable, u can’t castigate them for publishing it. Analogous to this is saying if Fayose spews out his lies and venoms against Buhari as he does on daily basis, even though nonsensical and fallacious all the time, news media should not report them. No, it doesn’t work like that. It must be reported, no matter what it contains. So, don’t bother your head about this sponsored write-up in UK media, na still PDP paid agents at work. They are present everywhere sharing their loots among journalists and hatchet men just to distract this administration. Expect to read more of this. Na corruption dey fight back, make u no dey perturbed.
Silly reporting. Doesn’t reflect the standards of UK Telegraph to me though. If to the contrary, then too bad for UKT.
I am surprise that there are so many paid agents on social media platforms attacking any editorial that is against Buhari’s draconian policies. What is wrong with a mere report by the Cable with approprite attributions?
This is an unfair meddling and misinformed view by the British media into Nigerian politics. It looks to me this was written to give the dog a bad name in order to hang it. Not nice at all.
good and lovely