We Will Not Be Distracted By Frivolous Allegations – FG

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said
the Buhari Administration will not be distracted by frivolous
allegations from any quarter, especially those cleverly choreographed
to divert attention from a widely-acclaimed presidential proclamation
and to shore up support for a waning and egotistical cause.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Friday, the Minister said the
administration is too busy trying to clear the mess of 16 years and
build on its unprecedented achievements over the past three years to
waste its energy and time on framing up anyone or dwelling on issues
that are not grounded in fact.

He said while those who have skeletons in their wardrobes should be
afraid, even of their own shadows, innocent persons need not worry
about any investigation, whether real or imagined.

”This administration will never engage in a frame-up of innocent
citizens. That is neither in the character of President Muhammadu
Buhari nor in that of his administration. Only the guilty should be
worried. To paraphrase an African proverb, a man who has no wife
cannot lose an inlaw to the cold hands of death.

”The administration is also strongly committed to the tenets of
democracy, including freedom of speech and the right to dissent. But
we understand that those who, in their time, were untethered to those
principles would find it hard to believe,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

The Minister said it was curious that the frame-up and witch-hunt
allegations came a day after a major presidential proclamation
reversing some past acts of injustice was made, to the relief and
acclamation of a long-expectant nation.

”Apparently, the impact of this proclamation was too much to bear by
those who, through acts of omission or commission, helped to deepen
the wounds inflicted by the blow of injustice that followed an
election that was widely acclaimed to be free, fair and credible,
hence they felt the need for a red herring that will distract the
nation.

”Added to that is the frustration brought about by the fact that the
contraption they have so much hyped as a freeway to power has failed
to gain traction. Faced with this double tragedy, even the strongest
of men may begin to succumb to a figment of their imagination. They
may start crying wolf where there is none,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said the unprecedented achievements of the Buhari
Administration are also enough to cause sleepless nights, with the
attendant symptoms that include phantasm, for those who had better
opportunities to make the country great but floundered on the altar of
narcissism.