A group known as Saro-Wiwa Associates, has faulted the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), over his promise to implement the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
National Coordinator of the group, Chief Gani Topba, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, pointed out that the Federal Government had commenced implementation of the report before Buhari’s visit to Ogoniland.
He said Buhari had, during his meeting with some stakeholders in Tai Local Government Area, promised that his administration would implement the UNEP report, if voted into power.
Chief Topba, while reacting to the promise wondered why he did not stop former head of state, late General Sani Abacha, from hanging Ken Saro-Wiwa and other sons of Ogoni.
The group’s National Coordinator chided Buhari for his failure to site a project in Ogoniland when he was the chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). “We want to state that we are aware that the very difficult and arduous project implementation steps of engaging and agreeing to project policy and frameworks are being discussed with the Federal Government, the Ogoni (without regard to political persuasion of the participants) and the IOCs.
“We want to state that the implementation of UNEP’s recommendations on the remediation and restoration of the Ogoni environment has commenced and should not be distracted by the shenanigans of partisan politics, as exemplified by the handing over of copies of the said report to every presidential candidate, who visits the land for campaigns.
“It is pertinent to state that Ogoni people have not forgotten that the same Muhammadu Buhari was at different times Federal Commissioner (Minister) of Petroleum Resources and Head of State of Nigeria under whose watch, the harmful environmentally degrading industry practices were in place, and yet he did not do anything to align industry standards with best practices in the world.
“As former head of state and head of a major interventionist programme of the Abacha government, there is no evidence that he attempted to or advised that same government against the hasty execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa (our mentor) and eight other Ogoni sons while the appeal was pending,” he stated.
Source: SunNewsOnline
