From Magnus Eze, Abuja

The Federal Government yesterday reacted to a call by a United States Congressman to refrain from selling warplanes and other military equipment to Nigeria describing it as engaging in a fancy flight.
It said Marino’s published letter to Secretary of State, Senator John Kerry, asking the US to withhold security assistance to Nigeria was based on some imaginary infraction by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who made this known in a statement said Marino was poorly informed about the issues he commented on, saying he was sadly out of tune with reality.
Mohammed, who noted that the Boko Haram insurgency was not just a Nigerian problem but a regional and international crisis wondered why Marino did not take the pains to get first-hand information from the US Embassy in Nigeria or any other credible source before engaging in what according to him was  a mere ‘propaganda of his own imagination’.
“Insecurity anywhere is insecurity everywhere. Had Congressman Marino understood this, he would not have made the kind of call he made concerning US security assistance to Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency that Nigeria has decisively dealt with under President Muhammadu Buhari is not just a Nigerian problem but a regional and international crisis.”
Marino’s demand that President Buhari ‘demonstrates a commitment to inclusive government and the most basic tenets of democracy: freedom to assemble and freedom of speech’ meant that he knew little or nothing about Nigeria.
The minister insisted government was committed to respect for the rule of law and strict adherence to constitutional order and did not need goading of the US congressman, or anyone for that matter, to do what was right.
On running an inclusive government, Mohammed said no part of the country was left out in the distribution of political appointments, for instance, in the appointment of ministers, which was done in accordance with the Constitution which mandated the president to appoint at least one minister from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
‘’Had the Congressman sought information from credible sources before engaging in a flight of fancy, he would have been presented with a comprehensive information on the appointment of CEOs for federal government’s parastatals, agencies and commissions that shows that the appointments were almost evenly matched along the line of the six geo-political zones in the country: With the North West having 51, North Central 46, North East 45, South East 41, South West 45 and South South 45,’’ he said. ‘’The Congressman may wish to note that each geo-political zone comprises 6 states, with the exception of North West (7) and South East (5).’’
Mohammed also picked hole in Marino’s description of the administration’s anti-corruption efforts as ‘selective’ saying it was a tired argument that clearly showed that; the US lawmaker must have appended his signature to someone’s concocted line.
He stated that no amount of attack would stop the anti-graft battle saying it will continue “unhindered, irrespective of whose ox is gored. And in this fight, only the guilty needs be afraid.”