Thursday, February 10, 2011

President Goodluck Jonathan on a hot Seat

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday came under fire for describing governors in South-West states not controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party as ‘rascals.’

The attacks came from the Action Congress of Nigeria which has three out of the six governors in South-West and the Labour Party which has one governor.
The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, the ACN presidential candidate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and two of the ACN governors, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) and Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), also flayed the President’s comment as ‘unpresidential and unstatesmanlike.’


Jonathan had at the commencement of his campaign in Ibadan, Oyo State, said, “We (PDP) must take over all the states in the South-West. The zone is too important to be left in the hands of rascals.”

But the ACN frowned at the comment, saying it was unbefitting of a President.

It said it believed that Jonathan was “giddy with excitement on the soap box,” and therefore reminded him that he remained the President of all Nigerians and not that of the PDP and its supporters.

The ACN added in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that if its governors were ‘rascals’ , then Nigeria needed more ‘rascals’ in government in order to enjoy the dividends of democracy being delivered in Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and even Edo State which is not in the South-West.

Edo State is governed by a former Nigeria Labour Congress President, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, who is also an ACN member.

The ACN said the ‘rascal’ in Lagos State (Fashola) had touched the lives of residents in the areas of security, good roads, education and healthcare in less than one third of the time the ‘PDP non-rascals’ had been in charge of Nigeria.

It added that the ‘rascal’ in Edo State had turned around the fortunes of the state in a way which the PDP governors who preceded him in office could only have dreamt of.

According to the ACN, the ‘rascals’ in Ekiti and Osun, who are new in the saddle, are already restoring hope to their people who were “literally battered and bruised by their usurper PDP governors.”

The party stated that while it would not want to match Jonathan on the use of ‘foul language,’ it would prefer to concentrate on issues that affected the people. It added it understood that the President was yet to overcome the “vicious battering” by his main opponent (Alhaji Atiku Abubakar) in the race for the PDP presidential ticket.”

Stating that as a political party it would concentrate on discussing issues that would promote democracy and deliver its (democracy) dividends to the people, the ACN advised Jonathan to “sheath his sword and stop using un-presidential language.”

The ACN said, ‘’That battle is over and the President should sheath his sword and refrain from using words that can only make him look un-presidential, no matter how tempting.

‘’Even as the presidential candidate of the PDP, he remains today the President of Nigeria. For that reason, we will not exchange words with him but concentrate on issues.

“Honestly, we think the PDP should be more concerned about losing more states to the ACN than wresting any from our party,” the ACN added.

Also, Ribadu, in a separate statement on Wednesday, said that Jonathan resorted to ‘foul language’ because he had nothing to showcase as his achievements.

He said that Jonathan’s comment was “unbecoming of a President” and “one that smacks of desperation.”

Ribadu added in the statement by his Director of Media and Communications, Mr. Ibrahim Modibbo, that Jonathan had “finally shown Nigerians how desperate he is to remain in power by resorting to name – calling and character assassination instead of addressing issues that border on the welfare of Nigerians and the people of the South- West in particular.”

He said, “We recognise the President’s dilemma. Of course, he knows that both himself and his fellow PDP governors in the South- West have no achievements to brandish. They have no alternative to proffer to the positive changes being witnessed by the people in Lagos, Ekiti and Osun States.

“It is however unbecoming of the President that in his frustration at the failure of him and his party to provide good governance to the people of the region and all Nigerians, he would resort to name – calling.”

Ribadu, therefore , advised the President to use the opportunity of his campaigns to apologise to Nigerians for the 12 years of misrule and mis-governance that the PDP had subjected Nigerians to.

He said, “One would have thought that the President would use the opportunity of his presence to apologise to the people of the South-West and indeed to all Nigerians about the failure of the PDP governors and the federal government.

“The President should have been man enough to apologise to the Yoruba that his party, the PDP, after mismanaging the opportunity they had from 2003 to 2007 to provide good governance in the five South-West states they controlled, went ahead to steal the peoples votes and manipulate the electoral process in 2007.”

Jonathan also received a bashing from the Labour Party which said his comment was not only “unbecoming of a President,” but an indication that he had been “contaminated.”

The party’s National Chairman, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said it was unfortunate that the President did not see happenings in Oyo and Ogun States, which are controlled by the PDP.

He said, “I am told that rascality runs in a family and that it is infectious. Therefore, the President may have been influenced by the two characters that surrounded him at the rally in Ibadan.

“These senior members of his party might have intoxicated Mr. President to say those things that ought not to have been said by a President of any nation.

“Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states are where we have the most responsible governments in this country. They are responsible in conduct; responsible in service delivery and responsible in funds management.

“If he says rascality means delivery on promises and dividends of democracy to the people, then we are.

“But the President should tell Nigerians which state is more rascal in the South-West than Ogun and Oyo states where there is no decorum.

In Lagos, Fashola enjoined the President to note that the April general elections would not be won by “derogatory language and sheer luck.”

The governor said that the comment by Jonathan reflected the quality of the PDP-led leaders seeking to rule the country in the coming elections.

He said, “The office of the President is a very high office and I don’t think that kind of language coming from the PDP presidential candidate is presidential.

“Elections will not be won by resorting to derogatory language and by claiming luck. Elections require those who seek elective offices to focus on the people over who they plan to exercise authority and to communicate to them in a very clear and practical manner how they intend to improve their lot.”

Aregbesola who was at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja to receive his Certificate of Return, described the comment by the President as “un-states manlike and reckless.”

He said that by the comment, the President had proved to Nigerians that he was not a statesman.

The governor said, “It is unfortunate that such a reckless statement would be made by a person occupying the position of the presidency and seeking the mandate of the people for such office again. It is quite unfortunate. It is not statesmanlike at all.

“A statesman ought to make decorous statements. That statement was absolutely in bad taste, in bad faith and it is indecorous.”

Afenifere, through its Secretary-General Dr. Femi Okurounmu, described Jonathan’s comment on the ACN and LP governors as ‘careless talk.’

It added that what transpired in Ibadan indicated that the President had the wrong people around him.

“It was a careless talk. He was engaging in a careless talk because certainly he cannot call the Yoruba people, either in the Alliance for Democracy or ACN, rascals. These are the parties that represent the majority of the Yoruba,” the group said.

The Presidency on Wednesday night responded to reservations over President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged description of some governors in the South-West as ‘rascals’.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ima Niboro, who reacted to the misgivings, said the President did not name any of the governors of the concerned states when he made the comment.

He said, “Please note that the President didn’t call any names when he said the South-West was too important to be left in the hands of rascals.

“So any one who wants to appropriate the name to himself is welcome to do so.”

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