The Presidency has criticised Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde over his call for a United Nations investigation into the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area, describing the request as unnecessary and driven by politics.
Speaking on Monday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga said the Federal Government had nothing to hide and would not oppose an international investigation if the governor believed it was necessary.
“Our doors are open. If Governor Makinde believes there are issues beyond what the military has already explained, the UN is free to investigate,” Onanuga said.
However, he questioned the basis of the governor’s demand, insisting that no security agency would deliberately leave schoolchildren in the hands of kidnappers for 56 days.
He pointed out that many of the victims were very young children and said it was unreasonable to suggest that anyone would intentionally subject them to such trauma.
Onanuga also noted that the rescue operation came at a heavy cost, with soldiers and operatives of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, losing their lives during efforts to free the captives.
According to him, one of the abducted teachers was also killed while in captivity, making it impossible to believe that the ordeal was deliberately allowed to happen.
The presidential spokesman accused Makinde of allowing political ambitions to shape his position, describing the governor, whom he referred to as a presidential aspirant, as someone who no longer trusted Nigeria’s institutions.
“It is unfortunate that Governor Makinde is calling for an external investigation instead of trusting our security agencies. This is politics, and it is unnecessary,” Onanuga said.
He further alleged that the governor was attempting to exploit the incident for political gain by promoting what he described as an unfounded conspiracy theory.
Makinde had earlier made the appeal while receiving the 45 rescued pupils and teachers formally handed over to the Oyo State Government by the Federal Government after spending 56 days in captivity.
The governor argued that the circumstances surrounding the abduction and rescue were serious enough to warrant an independent international investigation.
He said his request was not intended to undermine Nigerian institutions but to promote transparency, accountability and public confidence.
Makinde maintained that Nigerians deserved a full account of what happened, including whether there were institutional failures, negligence or collusion, as well as measures needed to prevent similar attacks on schools in the future.
