The APC Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) says it has evidence
that a top management staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration &
Safety Agency (NIMASA) is behind the dirty campaigns of hate against the
presidential candidate of APC, General Muhammadu Buhari and his family
aired in the recent documentary by AIT and NTA.
The APCPCO’s Director of Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said that
the Campaign Office has confirmed that the agency was indeed the sponsor
of all the dirty campaigns against the APC presidential candidate on AIT,
NTA and several other media platforms.
This, according to Shehu, contravenes the NIMASA Act, the Public Service
Regulations, and the INEC Act 2010 as amended, among others.
The APCPCO decried the situation where a government agency uses public
funds to sponsor a campaign of calumny against its candidate, which it
said is not only illegal, but should also be condemned and investigated by
the Joint Committees of the National Assembly on Marine Transportation.
If these claims were to be found to be true by the Joint Committee, the
statement said, disciplinary action should be taken against the agency and
its leadership.
“It is a well known fact that the Director General of the Agency, Mr.
Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi was President Goodluck Jonathan’s and a
well-known ex-militant’s errand boy. He was appointed there for the sole
aim of satisfying an ex-militant’s camp, an assignment he has carried out
well to the satisfaction of those who put him there through the award of a
concessionaire phantom PPP project. Under this contract, a certain
company, (Global West Vessels Specialists Ltd) was handed the legal
responsibility of the Nigerian Navy (NN) of protecting the Nation’s
Waterway and NIMASA’s Maritime Security function to the surprise of all
industry observers and yet fail woefully in offering the necessary
protection for the theft of Nigerian Crude Oil, which has only increased
since then among other sea related crimes.”
The statement also condemned the illegal use of public funds by the chief
executive of any government agency to finance disparaging media campaign
against an opposition candidate.
The APCPCO decried the increasing helplessness of regulatory agencies in
the country, charged with the certification of commercial advertising,
that are now being ignored by the PDP in placing libellous and defamatory
campaign materials against the opposition in TV stations they control.
According to the statement, President Jonathan should prove to Nigerians
that he is sincerely committed to the rule of law by taking immediate
action against the NIMASA boss.
“It is not enough for President Jonathan to claim he doesn’t know the
sponsors of smear adverts if he lacks the courage to punish them once they
are exposed,” Shehu said.