The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation on Thursday accused the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) of sponsoring smear campaigns against APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari and his family.
The spokesman of APCPCO, Garba Shehu, said the party was in possession of evidence linking top management staff of NIMASA to the hate campaigns against Buhari. Shehu said NIMASA sponsored the dirty campaigns against the APC presidential candidate on African Independent Televison (AIT), Nigerian Television Authority and several other media platforms.
While saying that the action contravenes the NIMASA Act, the Public Service Regulations, and the Independent National Electoral Commission Act 2010 as amended, among others, the APC 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.
He said that the action should be investigated by the Joint Committees of the National Assembly on Marine Transportation, stressing that if these claims were found to be true, disciplinary action should be taken against the agency and its leadership.
The statement said: “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 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.”
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