He said this in reaction to comments credited to the former Bauchi governor that both the Minister of state for education, Mr Nyesom Wike, and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) wrote to Governor Kashim Shettima not to allow the exams in Government Secondary School, Chibok.
In an interview on Channels Television yesterday, the PDP Chairman alleged that Governor Ibrahim Shettima knew there was a letter from both the WAEC and the education Minister, specifically telling him that Government Secondary school, Chibok was not safe for the 2014 WAEC exams, but he (Shettima) disregarded it.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos yesterday, Jidda, who presented the letters from both the Minister and WAEC, challenged Nigerian journalists to ask Muazu and others to produce the letters they said directed the state government not to conduct exams in the school.
The SSG further showed reporters the letter Borno Government wrote to the Police, asking it to provide security on daily basis to all exams centres, including the school in Chibok, based on the request made by WAEC.
“I did not know Muazu, a former governor in the northeast that is suffering from this crisis, to be a pathological liar. I don’t know if any of you watched the Channels Television today (Thursday); they showed Muazu telling lies. It was on air; the world saw him misleading the world. I took the letters he is misquoting with me and the panellists all read it.
“There was nowhere any of the letters asked us not to conduct exams in Chibok. This is the letter, all of you should look at it. Muazu didn’t read the letter before he went to the media to speak out of outright ignorance and falsehood. This is very unfortunate.
“In any case, the Minister does not even have the locus standi to direct the governor on such matters. We provided logistics as requested by WAEC. We wrote the Police too, to provide security on daily basis, in line with the request from WAEC to all the centres throughout the duration of the exams.
“But let me reiterate here that at no time did we receive any letter either from the police, WAEC or even the Minister, advising us not to hold the exams in Chibok. At any rate, at the time of the exams, Chibok was considered as one of the safest locations in the state.”
According to him, the Minister’s letter only asked that security be provided for WAEC officials in Federal Government Colleges in Borno State.
Federal government officials continue to insist that the Borno Government ignored warnings on the dangers of conducting the national exams in Chibok.
The state, has however denied, accusing the FG of seeking ways to cover up its failure in providing the needed security that resulted in the abduction of the teenage schoolgirls.
No comments:
Post a Comment