The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to go to court if he feels libelled by the description of his presidency as a kindergarten presidency by the Interim National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande.
In a statement in Accra yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said Chief Akande merely told the truth by his characterisation of the Jonathan presidency, adding: “Isn’t truth a defence to libel?”
It also said there was nothing strange or wrong in criticising a democratically-elected President. “After all, he is neither an imperial president, a monarchy nor an emperor.”
APC said nothing confirmed Chief Akande’s assertion that Jonathan is running a kindergarten presidency than the crude manner it (presidency) responded to the frank but constructive criticism by the APC National Chairman.
“In the true character of this presidency, its irreverent and undignified spokesman failed to respond to the issues raised by Chief Akande. Instead, he chose to haul abuses at a man who is old enough to be his father. Such irresponsible act does no credit to the spokesman or the president he is serving, and Nigerians will not forget such crudity in a hurry.
“Where is the presidency’s response to Chief Akande’s assertion that he has written two letters to the President over the serious challenges facing the country, without getting a response? Where is the presidency’s response to Chief Akande’s assertion that President Jonathan is victimising political opponents? These are the issues Nigerians are interested in, not how many hours the President sleeps at night because he is supposedly working tirelessly.
“If indeed this President is working tirelessly, we need to ask who he is working for because Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of his administration. They are also not interested that the president once served as a deputy governor, governor and vice-president, because the experience he supposedly garnered from doing so has not impacted positively on his duty as a president. That’s not a surprise, considering that the President owes his meteoric rise in politics to luck and destiny. Nothing else!” the party said.
It described the presidency as an under-achieving one, always eager to celebrate tokenism, using questionable statistics.
“As the presidency was composing its empty response to the serious issues raised by our highly-respected Chairman, the African Development Bank was saying in its annual report (African Economic Outlook), quoted by the local media on Sunday, that the proportion of people (Nigerians) living below the national poverty line has worsened from 65.5 per cent in 1996 to 69.0 per cent in 2010, most of those years under the PDP and the last four under President Jonathan.
“What therefore is there to celebrate in a presidency under which power generation has fallen to 2,500MW? What is there to celebrate in a presidency that has only given Nigerians widespread insecurity, unemployment, dilapidated infrastructure, oil theft and unbridled corruption. Of what use is the touted six per cent increase in the GDP when over 40 per cent of our youths are unemployed?” APC queried.
The party described as a figment of the presidency’s imagination the claim of a feud between its leaders, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, saying the PDP and the presidency have been peddling lies over a phantom feud because they could not fathom how the leadership of the APC could put national interest above personal considerations.
“Mr. President, don’t let your lick-spittle aides deceive you. There is no feud between the two leaders. Waiting for such a feud is like ‘Waiting for Godot’”, it said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
I am begining to believe tne assertion that what the Yorubas can not have they destroy.
ReplyDelete@9:30 u can believe what u want. Pdp will do worse if they find themselves in opposition. U must not forget the yoruba's are not clamouring to produce the next president, they are saying they'll put up a better candidate.
ReplyDeletewhat haven,t yoruba had. Dis we contest against Jonathan. We are always truthful and never a stooge to anyone. Even OBJ in his first tenure was not supported by us due ti his antecedent. We are after performance and not sharing of antionla cake
ReplyDeleteThis is getting interesting....
ReplyDeleteYORUBA DISTRUST FOR
HAUSA FULANI ‘LL
DESTROY APC – EBUTE, EX-
SENATE PRESIDENT
Former Senate President, Ameh
Ebute, Monday, described the
merger of three political parties
into the All Progressives Congress,
APC, as unworkable, affirming the
continuing hurt of the Yoruba
people against the Hausa Fulani on
account of the death in detention
of Bashorun Moshood Abiola.
In a session with newsmen in Lagos,
Senator Ebute also charged
northern leaders to give space to
other sections of the country,
noting that when northerners ruled
the country they were not
disturbed as President Jonathan is
presently being disturbed.
Senator Ebute presided over the
affairs of the third Senate for some
months in 1993 following the
removal from office of Senator
Iyorcha Ayu as Senate President.
He also exonerated the people of
the Middle Belt from the agitation
of some sections of the north
against a second term for President
Jonathan, saying that there was no
basis for the opposition given what
he claimed were the good works of
the president in most sectors of the
polity.
While describing the recent merger
of three parties into the APC as
unworkable, Ebute warned Asiwaju
Ahmed Tinubu to be cautious of his
relationship with Muhammadu
Buhari.
He said: “If I go into the history of
Nigerian politics, you will agree with
me that the merger will not work. I
was in detention with Bola Tinubu
in Alagbon for 50 days. Tinubu
knew what happened and I still
know what happened and I am
surprised that Tinubu can go into
marriage with these people.”
Noting the events that trailed the
arrest of Chief Moshood Abiola after
he declared himself as president in
1994, he said: ”I don’t think that
the Yoruba people have forgotten
that incident to hobnob or have a
marriage with people who will likely
treat them the same way again.”
He said: “You know them. You know
the people that constituted the
CPC, that is Buhari’s party. Buhari
was the chief adviser to Abacha
when Abacha was president.
“As chairman of PTF, they were
very hard on us. I am not saying
that because of that they shouldn’t
become president again, but I am
warning Bola Tinubu that what
happened to us in 1994 could
happen to him again, that he
should be careful because he is my colleague.
a word is enought for the wise
ReplyDeleteSee what a political idiot is writing. Can Nigeria ever be ruled by one faction of the nation? Is Ebute asserting that northerners are not in the PDP? What a foolish thought to suit one's ideology. Historically, the alliance between Yoruba and Hausa has always been progessive but suspicious. That is just the position of things and both strong men in this alliance have shown high degree of maturism and purposefulness for them to hide any ill feelings for each other. It is just a fictitious imagination of the dying party.
ReplyDelete