Insecurity: Give account of $1bn from ECA, Timi Frank tells Buhari

Amidst the growing security challenge facing the country, erstwhile deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank has asked the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to give account of the $1 billion withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account to tackle insurgency and other forms of crimes across states of the country.

Tribune Online findings revealed that the money was taken from the ECA with the tacit approval of the 36 state governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF).

But beside insurgency, the spate of killings by bandits and kidnappings particularly in the Northeast and Northwest states continued to generate concern.

Frank in a statement made available to newsmen noted that corruption and incompetence of the Service Chiefs were responsible for the scary security challenge despite what he called the humongous public fund deployed to combat the banditry and kidnappings.

He lamented that the President has woefully failed to protect Nigerians and demanded that the current “tired and incompetent heads of security agencies and Service Chiefs be sacked.”

“No serious government will keep incompetent Service Chiefs if the President himself is not personally benefiting from their cluelessness,” he noted.

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He expressed concern that the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali has not resigned from office despite the fact that his home state of Zamfara and President Buhari home state of Katsina were at the mercy of mindless bandits.

He said: “We are talking of $1billion (or N360billion) unilaterally withdrawn in a single tranche from the ECA by the current administration without any positive effect on the security of the country. Rather insecurity continues to bedevil the country without let. Haba!

“The only achievement we have seen through the current administration is propaganda and fake news to defend their looting.

“Dear Gen. Buhari, please tell the world what you did with $1billion (N360 billion) taken from the Excess Crude Account supposedly to fight insecurity!

“The number of lives lost and that of people displaced on a daily basis across the country is your responsibility which you must account for, but it is obvious that you only care about your ambition.

“The increasing level of insecurity in the country has pushed the citizens to the wall and this will no doubt set this country on fire if you don’t do the needful and urgently too.

“Nigerians should bear in mind that the more money the President approves to fight insecurity, the more the country becomes insecure.”

He, however, called on the international community to urgently come to the aid of Nigerians security-wise to prevent the growing humanitarian situation in the country from getting out of hand under Buhari, as “the present administration has lost the capacity and will to protect the people.”