Nigerian opposition: Govt playing politics with Boko Haram

Abuja - Nigeria's main opposition party on
Wednesday accused the government of
playing politics with Boko Haram, as it held
its first major election rally.
"The PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) is
sacrificing the lives of our brothers, of our
sisters, of our children for very selfish
political ends," said the All Progressives
Congress national chairman, John Oyegun.
Oyegun questioned why the military - West
Africa's largest - had failed to stop the
Islamist insurgency and claimed it was
because the three worst-affected states were
all APC strongholds.
"They [the PDP] have allowed the insurgents
to take over substantially controlled APC
states," he told the rally in the capital, Abuja.
The PDP has never been out of power in
Nigeria since the country returned to civilian
rule in 1999 and is widely expected to win
the next election, which takes place in
February next year.
Integrity of election results
But the opposition has been seen as stronger
than ever after dozens of PDP state
governors and lawmakers defected last year
in opposition to Jonathan's bid for re-
election.
Party officials have already raised fears about
the integrity of the election result if the
violence in the affected states prevents people
from voting.
Jonathan on Tuesday asked parliament for a
further six-month extension of emergency
rule in north-eastern states of Yobe, Borno
and Adamawa to help end the violence.
More than 13 000 people have been killed
since the insurgency began in 2009 and Boko
Haram is now said to be in control of more
than two dozen towns in its quest for a
hardline Islamic state.
Opposition lawmakers in the upper chamber
of parliament said the special powers, first
introduced in May 2013, had been an outright
failure, as bloodshed had increased and
towns had been lost.
Oyegun and presidential candidate
Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler,
both denounced what they claimed was the
ruling party's corrupt and inept leadership.
After "16 wasted years", the economy was in
a "state of free-fall" and still overly reliant on
oil but a recent fall in global prices risked
hitting ordinary citizens hard, Oyegun added.
AFP