APC governors’ forum DG: Political parties must discourage hate campaigns against ethnicity, religion

Salihu Lukman, director-general of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), says political parties must discourage their members from hate campaigns against ethnicity and religion.

Lukman said this in reaction to a recent interview by Samuel Ortom, Benue governor.

The governor, who had criticised the federal government over the decision to review grazing reserves across the country, had accused President Muhammadu Buhari of ethnic bias.

However, the presidency had tackled Ortom over the interview, and accused him of using language “reminiscent of the Rwandan genocide”.

Commenting on the development in a statement on Wednesday, Lukman said the governor is empowered by the constitution to tackle some of the problems he is complaining about.

“Even leaders such as Governor Ortom of Benue whose constitutional powers to mobilise responses towards resolving challenges no matter how small, as enshrined in the amended 1999 Constitution has become a leading campaigner against what he considers Fulanisation and Islamisation agenda,” he said.

“As far as Ortom is concerned, anybody arguing differently must be a supporter of the Fulanisation and Islamisation agenda in the country, which according to him is the continuation of the early 19th Century Fulani Jihad of Usman Danfodio.

“There is, therefore, the urgent need for political parties in Nigeria to take steps to discourage ethnic and religious campaigns of hatred.

“In this circumstance, as things are today, the so-called campaign against Fulanisation and Islamisation is more a danger to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) than it is to the APC.”