A senior member of the European Parliament in
Brussels, Franz Obermayr MEP, has accused the
Opposition All Progressive’s Congress (APC) of
channeling European Parliament financial aid to
Boko Haram in the North East of Nigeria and called
on the European Commission to investigate alleged
concerns over the party’s financial and political
allegiance with the terror group.
MEP Franz Obermayr, of Austrian Freedom Party,
currently the most popular political party in Austria,
made the statements in a press release issued on 16
September and covered widely by the European
press.
The Nigerian Times also learnt that Obermayr has
been working closely with Stand for Peace, a
Muslim-Jewish interfaith organisation dedicated to
countering extremism and promoting social and
religious cohesion. Oberamyr has also called on EU
election observers to closely scrutinise the links
between the APC and Boko Haram in the run up to
the 2015 presidential election.
He said: “In Nigeria’s case, a large proportion of the
subsidies from Brussels are used in the north of the
country. The federal states of Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa in the extreme north-east of the country
are precisely the areas in which Boko Haram’s
campaign of terror is largely tolerated by the
authorities. The aforementioned sub-republics are
governed by the All Progressive Congress (APC)”
In the statement made available to The Nigerian
Times, Obermayr says that all further European
Parliament cooperation and funding to Nigeria
should be subject to the findings of a report into the
close relationships between political parties and
terrorist groups in the country, suggesting that all
development aid should be immediately suspended
if any wrong doing is exposed.
Turning to individuals in the APC, Mr Obermayr
raised the US Embassy memo which states that
former Vice-President and 2015 Presidential hopeful,
Atiku Abubukar, received money from Al-Qaeda to
“destabilise the south of the country” and the recent
defection of Femi Fani-Kayode from the APC because
of their “clear islamist agenda and sympathies with
Boko Haram”.
Further, in a statement that highlights widespread
concern ahead of the 2015 presidential elections, he
said: “Even the most senior man in the APC, former
Nigerian head of state and presidential candidate,
Mohammadu Buhari, was quoted in the British
newspaper The Guardian back in 2001 calling for
sharia law to be introduced throughout Nigeria,
including the Christian-dominated south.”
The announcement from Obermayr and Stand for
Peace follows a similar call from Andrew Rosindell
MP, of the UK parliament, for an inquiry into the
relationship between members of the APC and Boko
Haram.
Stand for Peace have long investigated Boko Haram
and their international financial and political
connections, previously exposing links between the
extremist sect and the controversial UK based
charity the “Al-Muntada Trust”. The allegations will
cast a severe blow to the APC who have struggled
to challenge its alleged sponsorship of Boko Haram
on the international stage, particularly in the UK.
The full press release can be read here and below:
http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/
OTS_20140916_OTS0106/fpoe-obermayr-an
stehendewahlen-in-nigeria-lassen-weiteren-auf
stieg-der-islamistischen-boko-haram-befuerchten
[Please note, the below press release has been
translated from German to English and as such, may
contain small translation errors]
FPÖ MEP Obermayr: Fears of further rise of Islamist
Boko Haram group ahead of elections in Nigeria
Heading: EU election observers must closely
scrutinise links between political parties and terrorist
groups
Vienna (OTS) – In Nigeria modern oil technology
meets medieval religious practices. The
fundamentalist Boko Haram group is currently
causing Nigeria to descend into an Islamist swamp.
People of different beliefs, such as Christians and
moderate Muslims, are being brutally terrorised and
persecuted.
Sub-line: EU subsidies for Boko Haram go-
betweens?
“Unfortunately, in many cases a lot of Europe’s
political decision-makers are negligent when it
comes to contacts and financial aid for associations
and political parties which in reality act as
camouflage organisations and as a result often open
the doors to European institutions for radical
Islamist groups,” is the criticism voiced by Austrian
Freedom Party MEP Franz Obermayr, who has
already called on the Commission for greater
transparency on this issue in a parliamentary
survey.
In Nigeria’s case, a large proportion of the subsidies
from Brussels are used in the north of the country.
The federal states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in
the extreme north-east of the country are precisely
the areas in which Boko Haram’s campaign of terror
is largely tolerated by the authorities. The
aforementioned sub-republics are governed by the
All Progressive Congress (APC), which is now also
standing for the presidency in the upcoming 2015
elections.
“The leaders of this party have repeatedly been
linked with radical Islam and their terrorist groups,”
warns Obermayr. Wikileaks for example published a
memo from the US Embassy to the effect that the
former Vice-President and APC member Atiku
Abubakar received money from Al-Qaeda to
destabilise the south of the country.
Another important figure in the APC, Femi Fani-
Kayode, reportedly turned his back on the party in
July, saying that he no longer wished to belong to a
party that follows a clear Islamist agenda and
sympathises with the Boko Haram terrorist group.
The party is also working to spread its
fundamentalist philosophy through victory in the
forthcoming elections.
“And lastly even the most senior man in the APC,
former Nigerian head of state and presidential
candidate, Mohammadu Buhari, was quoted in the
British newspaper The Guardian back in 2001 calling
for sharia law to be introduced throughout Nigeria,
including the Christian-dominated south,” Obermayr
went on, referring to the manifestly close links
between the APC and Islamist terrorism in the
region.
Sub-line: EU election observers must clarify the
close relationship between official parties and
terrorist groups in Nigeria and take appropriate
steps.
Obermayr again: “During its history Europe too had
to learn the painful lesson that a semblance of
democratic legitimacy did not prevent brutal and
inhuman regimes from gaining power. Against the
backdrop of the upcoming elections, all evidence of
links between Boko Haram and political parties in
Nigeria must be carefully scrutinised, documented
and then reported to the European Parliament and
the general public. Future cooperation with Nigeria
should depend on these reports.”
According to Obermayr, it goes without saying that
development aid should also be suspended
immediately if suspicions are confirmed in the
above-mentioned regions.
For additional information contact:
Freiheitlicher Parlamentsklub
Tel.: 01/40 110 – 7012
mailto: press-parlamentsklub@fpoe.at
