http://mobile.saharareporters.com/news-page/presidency-blames-jonathan%E2%80%99s-independence-day-gaffe-newspaper-article-premium-times

This is the kind of nonsense that I expect from sahara misreporters. I trust that fool demdem to parrot anything from those clowns.

In an attempt to salvage President Goodluck Jonathan’s integrity after a PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that the president lied on a claim he made in his independence anniversary broadcast to the nation, the Federal Government on Tuesday said the president‘s claim was based on “notorious facts” provided in a newspaper article.

In his Independence Day speech, Mr. Jonathan scored his administration high on many fronts, despite the widely held believe among Nigerians that its performance had been abysmal.

In an apparent attempt to gain international goodwill, he further asserted that the global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, had endorsed his administration’s war against corruption.
“In its latest report, Transparency International noted that Nigeria is the second most improved country in the effort to curb corruption,” Mr. Jonathan had said in the broadcast.

However, in an email to PREMIUM TIMES, Transparency International said the president’s claim is untrue.
“Transparency International does not have a recent rating or report that places Nigeria as the second most improved country in the fight against corruption,” the Berlin-based organisation told this newspaper.

[size=18pt]The presidency, in a statement released this morning, said the president‘s claim was based on “notorious facts” published by Nigeria’s BusinessDay newspaper.

Presidency sources say the president’s gaffe has caused panic among his speech writers and media aides regarding who should take responsibility for the misinformation.[/size]

The panic is also reflected in the official response, posted on the official website of the Federal Ministry of Information, and signed by a person who identified himself as Reno and did not indicate any official designation.

The Reno, who signed the statement, is believed to be Reno Omokri, Mr. Jonathan’s Special Assistant on New Media.

“As is the practise worldwide, we accept the premise that whatever is published in the media and goes unchallenged is the truth,” the statement said. ”On this issue, the media published their synopsis of the most recent Transparency International report and BusinessDay, a well respected newspaper with bias for business reporting in a headline on the 12th of September 2012 with the titled (sic) “FG’s anti-corruption initiative impacts Nigeria’s global perception.”

The statement indicated that Mr. Jonathan’s advisers merely lifted an article from a newspaper without checking its accuracy and then gave it to the president to read to over 150 million Nigerians as independence anniversary day speech, televised on national television and possibly streamed on the Internet.

Reno added that since the BusinessDay report was not challenged by TI, it should be taken as a “notorious fact”.

“The President acted in good faith and his statement was based on notorious facts”.

The president’s aide then chided what he described as some “opposition leaning media houses” for casting “aspersions on the integrity of the President.”

“They lack ideas on how to move Nigeria forward and would rather snipe at the effort of the President to move the nation forward for which any patriot would do,” he said

Jona you still wonder why they call you clueless Retardeen?

Retardeen and his entourage of jesters.

Where are the bootlickers defending the claims just few hours ago

Johndoe100: This is the kind of nonsense that I expect from sahara misreporters. I trust that fool demdem to parrot anything from those clowns.

Morron, SR only published what a presidential spokesman released to the general public. SR is in line.
Above all, the president has admitted that not all what he said during his speech was true. I salute the retardeen for this. It takes courage to accept ones fault.
Bottom line - Nigeria not yet improving, corruption wise.

dayokanu: In an attempt to salvage President Goodluck Jonathan’s integrity after a PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that the president lied on a claim he made in his independence anniversary broadcast to the nation, the Federal Government on Tuesday said the president‘s claim was based on “notorious facts” provided in a newspaper article.

In his Independence Day speech, Mr. Jonathan scored his administration high on many fronts, despite the widely held believe among Nigerians that its performance had been abysmal.

In an apparent attempt to gain international goodwill, he further asserted that the global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, had endorsed his administration’s war against corruption.
“In its latest report, Transparency International noted that Nigeria is the second most improved country in the effort to curb corruption,” Mr. Jonathan had said in the broadcast.

However, in an email to PREMIUM TIMES, Transparency International said the president’s claim is untrue.
“Transparency International does not have a recent rating or report that places Nigeria as the second most improved country in the fight against corruption,” the Berlin-based organisation told this newspaper.

[size=18pt]The presidency, in a statement released this morning, said the president‘s claim was based on “notorious facts” published by Nigeria’s BusinessDay newspaper.

Presidency sources say the president’s gaffe has caused panic among his speech writers and media aides regarding who should take responsibility for the misinformation.[/size]

The panic is also reflected in the official response, posted on the official website of the Federal Ministry of Information, and signed by a person who identified himself as Reno and did not indicate any official designation.

The Reno, who signed the statement, is believed to be Reno Omokri, Mr. Jonathan’s Special Assistant on New Media.

“As is the practise worldwide, we accept the premise that whatever is published in the media and goes unchallenged is the truth,” the statement said. ”On this issue, the media published their synopsis of the most recent Transparency International report and BusinessDay, a well respected newspaper with bias for business reporting in a headline on the 12th of September 2012 with the titled (sic) “FG’s anti-corruption initiative impacts Nigeria’s global perception.”

The statement indicated that Mr. Jonathan’s advisers merely lifted an article from a newspaper without checking its accuracy and then gave it to the president to read to over 150 million Nigerians as independence anniversary day speech, televised on national television and possibly streamed on the Internet.

Reno added that since the BusinessDay report was not challenged by TI, it should be taken as a “notorious fact”.

“The President acted in good faith and his statement was based on notorious facts”.

The president’s aide then chided what he described as some “opposition leaning media houses” for casting “aspersions on the integrity of the President.”

“They lack ideas on how to move Nigeria forward and would rather snipe at the effort of the President to move the nation forward for which any patriot would do,” he said

Thanks for helping a bro out. Nigerians must learn to always crosscheck everything that comes out from the retardeens mouth.

dayokanu: Jona you still wonder why they call you clueless Retardeen?

Retardeen and his entourage of jesters.

Where are the bootlickers defending the claims just few hours ago

Murphy t and his kind, what can u say to this? Ur attention is needed here.

I pardon everytin in dat release but sincerely wat is "notorious fact"? It will pass for wordplay sha but anytin afta dat is total nonsense

Demdem:

Morron, SR only published what a presidential spokesman released to the general public. SR is in line.
Above all, the president has admitted that not all what he said during his speech was true. I salute the retardeen for this. It takes courage to accept ones fault.
Bottom line - Nigeria not yet improving, corruption wise.

The President only clarified that the part about the TI report was misleading, not other parts of that speech. If you have any issues with it, point it out so we could debate it.
http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/52nd-independence-speech

This move by the Presidency is simply the best move: admit your mistake, express your regrets and move on. They rightly judged that it doesn't show weakness but Strength to admit( I certainly would NEVER have supported them if they did otherwise cos cant stand Distortions ). It takes courage to discountenance the pettiness of some opposition critics who would surely pounce on this admission of indiscretion to further their own political aims, and do the RIGHT thing; Leadership requires such courage at times.

I expressed my thoughts on this yesterday:

I have gone through the both articles thoroughly.

I was amongst the 1st persons that brought this article to this forum after I read it on BusinessDay
http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/44406-fgs-anti-corruption-initiative-impacts-nigerias-global-perception

I thought( and so did every person who commented on the article) that the article was a latest report by TI but even if it was, it apparently was not saying exactly what I nor any of the commenters were thinking: it seems that the article was talking about the period 2001-2011. I regret my own mistake.

It seems the president was also in similar fashion ill-advised; so except the Presidency have their own source( and if PremiumTimes is actually correct), they should swiftly admit the mistake and move forward. It happens. Obama is presently battling the 'lies' he was said to have said about what he knew about the people who carried out the Libyan Embassy attacks(its a hot topic in America presently and one that might bear on the elections though Romney himself is unchallenged in the kind and number of 'lies' and gaffs he apparently have told ) while Cameron is also battling the 'lies' he personally twitted some time ago about the the Russians agreeing to ditch the Syrians or even the recent supposed protection of close aids undergoing prosecution. Again it happens with people in power.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/did-obama-lie-about-the-embassy-attacks/2012/09/27/2751f81e-083e-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/06/cameron-obviously-lies-then-reuters-distributes-lie-as-news.html


Meanwhile, this slight indiscretion should not distract from the body of that speech including this part:

Even as we remain focused on the issue of security, the fight against the scourge of corruption is a top priority of our Administration. We are fighting corruption in all facets of our economy, and we are succeeding. We have put an end to several decades of endemic corruption associated with fertilizer and tractor procurement and distribution. We have exposed decades of scam in the management of pensions and fuel subsidy, and ensured that the culprits are being brought to book.


By the way, those people who have made it a point of duty to attack the person of the president in a really silly and naive move in order to undermine his presidency by scrutinizes every thing he does, says, feels, thinks( including those he didnt do, say etc) should know that they have failed just like your military arm( BOKO HARAM) is presently failing as shown by the pathetic plead of Abubakar Shakau yesterday:

While denying peace negotiation, the Boko Haram leader admitted that some of their members had been killed by security operatives.

“All I can confirm is that they are killing us rather than dialoguing with us,” he said.

It is only a matter of time , so mastur.bate away on this topic as much as you can

PS: The above is not directed at ordinary Nigerians whose complaints are only cos of their frustrations at not seeing the greatness that Nigeria deserves fast enough.

https://www.nairaland.com/1063016/jonathan-lied-independence-anniversary-broadcast#12389948

dayokanu: Jona you still wonder why they call you clueless Retardeen?

Retardeen and his entourage of jesters.

Where are the bootlickers defending the claims just few hours ago

Oh SHUT yr mouth u ACN goon @Dayokanu. It was not a lie per say but a mistake that had to do the actual time period( 2011 vs 2001-2011) that was stated in d TI analysis, which the Presidency is admitting and clarifying- which takes a lot of courage. Compare with how yr master( Tinubu) Lied to the nation recently that the Democratic Party and even Obama specially invited him to the Democratic Convention as the ' Leader of the Opposition in Nigeria' when he actually bought the ticket himself as an ordinary guest; and worse was that his party (the ACN) ridiculously tried defending the lie, even here on NL led by yr leader on this forum Gbawe, instead of just doing the right yet hard thing- admit yr fault and move on. If you guys now want to hypocritically mastur.bate over this goof( which was swiftly admittd) plz go on, who cares really?

Geez, Let me get something straight.

The Presidency now get their information from the National Dalies?

Shocking.

Demdem & Dayokanu are one and the same person. Stop logging in and logging out - switching user Id's.

Ones again, Jona is on a hot seat. When shall the cold-bully end. Our President need a lot more charisma to edge him up above these abuses!

There is no good spin on this, the presidency should not be getting information from national dailies. It shows that something is wrong, Do they not test the successes of their programs?

To me, this indicates a much bigger problem in the government.. A president should be fully aware of every detail in his speech, it is not just about performing on screen...

"That anything published and goes unchallenged is the truth" GEJ has good intentions but the sychos and money grabbers keeps misinforming this peace loving and gentleman..... When oga presido nor be small pikin....How dem end up still feeding him lies and he keeps buying baffles me o. I dont envy the position that GEJ box himself into..... Fire all them sychos and make example outta of em.

nass07: Ones again, Jona is on a hot seat. When shall the cold-bully end. Our President need a lot more charisma to edge him up above these abuses!

Abeg, who is "cold-bullying" Jonathan? He is merely a victim of his own attempt to utilise spin and deceit in the desperate effort to mask how his Government has achieved very little and has in fact taken Nigeria backwards in many areas.

Everyone keeps portraying GEJ as an 'innocent victim' being given bad advise yet folks fail to realise that a genuinely intelligent person and a true leader will always have the general ability to discern and reject so-called bad advise. Nigerians should stop the pity Party and hand wringing. Folks did not vote for GEJ to be an insecure and weak leader who is always keen to play victim. Nigerians want a solutions provider.

IT IS VERY BAD INDEED THAT THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDIA HOUSE HAD TO COPY AND PASTE FROM THE NIGERIAN NEWSPAPER WITHOUT VERIFYING THE FACT. I FEEL SORRY COZ NOT ONLY THAT HE HAD ADMITED HIS GOOFED BUT AT SUCH AN HEIGHT, YOU MUST WATCH / GUIDE WHAT COMES OUT OF UR MOUTH.
AND THE SO CALLED BUSINESS DAY NEWS PAPER MY FAVORITE HAD MISLED THE WHOLE NATION WITH THIER BASELESS REPORT POOR OF THEM INDEED. EXPECIALLY ''PHILLIP ISAKPA'' RUBISH REPORTING. I CALLED HIM FOR HIS BASELESS REPORT TIME AGO N HE COULD NOT TENDER AN APOLOGY VERY BAD OF HIM.
POOR BUSINESS DAY NEWPAPER. THIS WILL NOT STOP ME BUYING THE PAPER BUT TABOO TO READ ''phillip isakpa'' REPORT!

gregg2: Demdem & Dayokanu are one and the same person. Stop logging in and logging out - switching user Id's.

You are an infant around here & that's why you assumed Demdem & Dayo to be the same user, don't let bounce on you like they did to beaf, they knocked beaf out of nairaland, so just be careful with your use of words.

As if his other gaffes where also caused my newspapers. No sense of responsibility, our Jona. Smh

as far as i am concerned this jona president is just acting like a dull guy,and giving the opposition a feild day.no wonder acn called him a trainee president,each time he does some stupid mistake u wonder if those tht call him clueless are not right afterall ,i think it is time he starts acting like a president and not like a silly billy.if it was obj as president there wont be any press release about the speech becos tht will send the wrong signals ,the problems with gej is he is trying to protray himself as a righteous man and innocent listening president,he should understand tht nigerians are wiser than that ,so just be who and what u are ,do ur best and get out.

Hahahahahahaha! How can we trust a leader who cannot get his facts correctly in an address to the country on our national day? This is a national embarrassment of monumental proportions. Is it not the same President who "doesn't give a damn " about what people are saying? He has been copying and pasting from Newspapers- what a shame from our PhD. holding President!

Mind you, he said the same thing at the Independence Church Service at the National Christian Centre on September 30 - would Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and other Christians come out to condemn Mr. President for practically lying in church!? Your guess is almost as good as mine.

Omen100:

You are an infant around here & that's why you assumed Demdem & Dayo to be the same user, don't let bounce on you like they did to beaf, they knocked beaf out of nairaland, so just be careful with your use of words.

which means dayo and demdem are in the same group?

Seriously this completely makes a mockery of how unintelligent and ill prepared GEJ is.An articulate President should at least take time to verify what his aides had written for him.Just incredible how lost and detached from realities most of these guys are when they have to depend on newspaper information and beer parlour analysis of Dedeike,Taharqa,Billyonaire and their fellow crumbies.

In other words, Jona claims to be "fighting corruption". Yet he has no means of evaluating its progress. The president and his team are really clueless.

dayokanu: Jona you still wonder why they call you clueless Retardeen?

Retardeen and his entourage of jesters.

Where are the bootlickers defending the claims just few hours ago

Jobless retarden like you. Keep calling GEJ ur father's name RETARDEN.

Mmmttcheww !!

The same team gej that whines about the media is dubbing the media.

Says a lot about jonas phd when you cannot even cheat with sense but just copy mindlessly.

Who knows - perhaps this is the same way they spam us with all their other statistics.

Poor laptop monkeys.

It keeps on getting worse. How can the president's speech writers not have confirmed that info before factoring that into the speech? They all deserve to be fired. They have exposed their unclothedness; lazying about while copying and pasting. No wonder the president's speeches mostly sound too alike! And yet again I wonder what is really going on with GEJ. Too many mistakes.

If this is true then I wonder why Mr. President have not sent his speech writers parking.. This is really embarassing for the presidency. Now GEJ should know that his enemies isn't the opposition nor his social media critics, his enemies are those dinning with him there in aso villa. No Nigerian wants our country to fail, so it beats my imagination when people criticise the government are calle "haters" of the president. Smh! Maybe the speech was written by an CAN member to embarass the president sha.

maclatunji: Hahahahahahaha! How can we trust a leader who cannot get his facts correctly in an address to the country on our national day? This is a national embarrassment of monumental proportions. Is it not the same President who "doesn't give a damn " about what people are saying? He has been copying and pasting from Newspapers- what a shame from our PhD. holding President!

Mind you, he said the same thing at the Independence Church Service at the National Christian Centre on September 30 - would Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and other Christians come out to condemn Mr. President for practically lying in church!? Your guess is almost as good as mine.

And what is your exact point , dey use sense once awhile

Chooooooooooooooooooiiiiiii!

I dey laff. You know why? Because i nor fit cry.

Choi!!!

megareal: It keeps on getting worse. How can the president's speech writers not have confirmed that info before factoring that into the speech? They all deserve to be fired. They have exposed their unclothedness; lazying about while copying and pasting. No wonder the president's speeches mostly sound too alike! And yet again I wonder what is really going on with GEJ. Too many mistakes.

i share ur fears ,somethings is seriously wrong with that guy pr teams,too many mistakes too many times,i think he is surrounded by incompetent ppl and yet either he doesnt have the balls to fire them or he cant see their mistake or he sees nothing wrong in them making mistakes,but i am starting to kind of believe and share demdem idea ,this guy gej doesnt have an idea of governance ,i just hope we dont elect another type of him in the coming election because that will be disaterous for nigeria