George Training Sure-P Cadets For Election Violence - Obanikoro

Chief Bode George, chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, is in the news again.  He is in the news at the moment over weighty allegations that funds for the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) were being misapplied; and that the SURE-P task force being trained in Lagos was actually meant to terrorise inhabitants and also destabilise the coming 2015 general elections in Lagos State.   

Musiliu Obanikoro, former Minister of State for Defence and leading PDP member, in exasperation after he lost the primaries, went on air to level these grievous allegations against  George.

A breakdown of the allegations, as reported and beamed live on Television Continental (TVC), a satellite television station, shows the following: 

• that Bode George is purportedly sponsoring and training thugs illegally for election purposes through the SURE-P Task Force at toll gate along Magodo expressway area; 
• that members of the Task Force bear arms and ammunition allegedly in preparation for election violence; and 
• that the SURE-P boys allegedly provide round-the-clock security for George’s Ikoyi residence. But he is not known to occupy any top public office at present to warrant such protection, by people paid from the public till.

In fury, Obanikoro also stated that the only time the PDP in the state knew peace was when George was in jail.

We believe that the outburst of Obanikoro should not be shoved aside, as coming from someone who lost in the just concluded PDP governorship primaries. As a former ambassador, Minister of State for Defence and frontline member of the PDP in the state, he knows what he was saying about what goes on in the innermost circle of the party and, most especially, on issues he raised.

To us, indeed, he spoke as someone who should know. In our view, such severe allegations should not be treated with kid’s gloves; or dismissed as the ranting of an irritant party man.  Rather, they should be treated with official promptness because they bear criminal imputations that could be injurious to Lagos and the entire electoral process if not properly addressed now.

We could not fathom why SURE-P,  designed to bring succour to the long suffering people of Lagos and Nigerians in general under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, could be turned, for selfish reasons, to an avenue for creating a possible destabilisation force with obviously the sole aim of threatening free and fair elections in Lagos State come February, 2015.

Hitherto, there have been reports of massive recruitment of able-bodied people into the SURE-P cadre and they were reportedly seen along the toll gate express-road, being given military drilling. That supports the allegation that they might be deployed to cause disquiet in the polity.   

On several occasions in recent past, the task force cadets had reportedly engaged the officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) in avoidable battles over who controls highways in the Lagos metropolis. The squabbles emanating from this have led to the unleashing of serious injuries on some LASTMA officials by SURE-P cadets that are reported to be routinely armed.

Yet, they have proved to be grossly inefficient in providing effective traffic management on major roads that they have illegally taken over. In retrospect, we can authoritatively state that during the era of Adeseye Ogunlewe as Minister of Works under the Obasanjo presidency, he came up with a gang called FERMA task force through which they terrorised Lagosians on the road. Just as that ill conceived gang did not last long, we are not under any illusion, like its promoters, that this SURE-P task force will disappear like its predecessor did.

Still, we demand the intervention of the presidency in addressing the Obanikoro allegations against George. It is sad to note that the SURE-P funds meant to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal have been allegedly hijacked by Bode George and his faction of the party.

This amounts to nothing but an abuse of SURE-P funds and, in essence, which should not be allowed to continue. But for the crisis that was an aftermath of the PDP governorship primaries, the public will still be in the dark.

We wonder: how can money, specifically meant to be shared for the good of all Lagosians, now be turned into the exclusive preserve of a few in the state branch of PDP hell bent in creating mayhem come 2015?

President Jonathan must ensure, as a matter of urgent duty, that nothing is done or allowed to be done to compromise the coming elections in Lagos or anywhere in Nigeria.