The wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan, has denied
canvassing for the 2015 gubernatorial ambition
of a former governor of Oyo State and chieftain
of the Accord Party, Senator Rasheed Ladoja.
The first lady
was yesterday reacting to a report in some
national dailies that she summoned Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial aspirants
in Oyo State and asked them to “accommodate”
Ladoja.
A former governor of the state and
gubernatorial aspirant, Chief Adebayo Alao-
Akala, who was part of the meeting, which
reportedly took place 10 days ago at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja and had in attendance
the Minister of State for the Federal Capital
Territory, Jumoke Akinjide; a former Senate
Leader, Sen. Teslim Folarin, Chief Yekini Adeojo
and Ladoja himself, confirmed that Mrs.
Jonathan asked them to accommodate the ex-
governor but denied being asked to step down.
“Yes, it is true that the First Lady met us. But she
didn’t ask me to step down. She said we should
accommodate Ladoja in our party and we said
it would be difficult to do so because he is not a
member of the PDP. That was what happened”,
he said.
However, the first lady, who has been in the
news recently over her alleged
meddlesomeness in strictly party affairs, in a
statement titled: “Re: Oyo PDP Crisis: Party
Leaders, aspirants battle Patience Jonathan”
and issued by her media aide, Ayo Adewuyi,
described the report as dubious, diversionary,
unfair, unkind and totally unacceptable.
She said the reports were a new twist to anchor
the political fortunes or survival of certain
politicians on a deliberate demonization of her
personality.
Mrs. Jonathan said she was neither an elected
state official nor a party functionary to make
such a request.
The statement reads: “It has come to our notice
that a new twist has been introduced to the
carefully orchestrated scheme to anchor the
political fortunes or survival of certain
politicians on a deliberate demonisation of Mrs
Patience Faka Jonathan, who has continued to
preach the gospel of peaceful atmosphere for
the conduct of 2015 elections.”
“This was demonstrated in a newspaper report.
According to the report, the First Lady, is being
alleged to have requested PDP leaders in Oyo
State to “accommodate” former Governor
Rashidi Ladoja, who is an Accord Party chieftain
in the PDP and be “supported to realise his
Governorship ambition”.
“We consider it preposterous that it can be
assumed that the First Lady would possibly
make such request on behalf of someone who
is not even in the PDP. We ask again, on what
platform? Within what context? And to achieve
what? Is Ladoja in PDP?
“This is another attempt by mischief makers to
loop their self-induced political travails around
the First Lady, to develop another strategy for
their survival.
“Let us state once again, that Mrs Jonathan is
not an elected state official, neither is she a
party functionary. She therefore recognises very
clearly her place in the scheme of things and
acts always accordingly.
“If anything, she has continued to preach for
peaceful conduct of all aspirants before, during
and after elections, since she believes that
Peace is prerequisite to a free and fair election
and ultimately, development and unity of the
country.
“The First Lady is of the opinion that we need
peaceful environment for the election itself and
when there is likelihood of crisis brewing;
performing her role as the President of the
African First Ladies Peace Mission becomes
inevitable, since charity must begin at home.
“She believes the elections can only be
conducted in a peaceful atmosphere and the
aspirants must be alive to contest and win
election. She only preaches peace because she
is a mother of peace.
“Dame Jonathan was in Ibadan only for the
purpose of inaugurating the Oyo State office of
Women for Change and Development Initiative,
one of her NGOs seeking for the upliftment of
the status of Nigerian women, during which
women of Oyo State were equally empowered.”
“To therefore say that the First Lady summoned
PDP governorship aspirants asking them to
“accommodate” an Accord Party aspirant is to
say the least dubious, diversionary, unfair,
unkind, and therefore totally unacceptable