The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation says it has evidence that a top management staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency is behind the dirty campaigns of hate against the presidential candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, and his family aired in the recent documentary by African Independent Television and the Nigerian Television Authority.
But NIMASA in a swift response denied having anything to do with the documentary.
The APCPCO’s Director of Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said 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.
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 (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 on television 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.
But NIMASA said the position of the APC was far from the truth.
It said in a statement on Thursday: “Our attention has been drawn to the deliberately misleading press release from the All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Organization. While we do not want to be drawn into politics in any manner, it is pertinent for us to make a few clarifications.
“The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), as an Agency, and its Director General, Dr Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi have never been involved in any form of campaign against any politician, nor sponsor same.
“It is unfortunate that the authors of that statement and their agents are only attempting yet again without success to discredit the Agency, having failed in doing so through the malicious lies on the purchase of the operational vessels, and attempt to discredit NIMASA success story which is currently training over 2,500 young Nigerians as seafarers.
“We are only a government agency doing our normal statutory duties as a Maritime regulatory agency and proud of our achievements which have been globally acclaimed.”
The statement was signed by Isichei Osamgbi, NIMASA’s Deputy Director/Head Public Relations.
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