By Bashir Adefaka
“When I saw this untrue headline, I felt very sorry for Col. Umar Rtd. He’s been feeding on fake news. Fake news can be damaging. Responding to Fake news can be embarrassing. Fake news strips one of every dignity,” Onochie said about Col. Umar’s letter.
The controversial former Military Governor of Kaduna State, who is believed to be one of the Babangida boys that unjustifiably ousted the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari on August 27, 1985, Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (Rtd), has been given a sincere advice to choose a life full of dignity by relying only on facts in his judgments and not depend on fake news.
This advice was given by no other person than Lauretta Onochie, the Amazon who returned from United Kingdom for the sole reason of joining the struggle for better Nigeria culminated in the Return of General Buhari and his new Regime of Change on May 29, 2015.
Beefing as the over 15 million Nigerians that used their voting power to knock out the old order in 2015 and sustain the knockout in 2019, Onochie, who is digital and social media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, fired back at Col. Umar with reminder that tore his claims to shreds.
Umar, whose controversial nature eventually earned him the boot of his master who sacked him as military governor mid of the regime he helped install, had written the President, saying his skewed appointments into offices of the Federal Government, favouring some and frustrating others, shall bring ruin and destruction to the country.
Recall that Vanguard had published a story tagged; ‘APPOINTMENTS: Buhari favoured South more than North – Records,’ wherein it listed Buhari’s appointments since he assumed office in 2015.
The documents, the first 43 pages and the second 17 pages, used by the media to arrive at the percentage published, showed that the South got 52.4%, North 47.6%.
For example, between 2015 and 2018, the North-Central topped the number of appointments in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, with 102 appointees, the South-West came second with 101 appointees giving the two zones 35 percent or 203 of the 567 appointments made.
The South-South came third with 99 appointments, ahead of the North-West, which came fourth with 94. The North-East followed with 93, and the South-East is least with 78. In the North-Central, Kogi topped with 22 appointees, followed by Kwara with 21, and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja got the least with two appointees.
Onochie made reference to the above as evidence to counter the hypothetical submission of Umar.
Making mockery of Umar’s letter to Buhari, the presidential aide opined: “When I saw this untrue headline, I felt very sorry for Col. Umar Rtd. He’s been feeding on fake news. Fake news can be damaging. Responding to Fake news can be embarrassing. Fake news strips one of every dignity.”
She advised Umar not to depend on fake news, but rely on facts.
