The party said the president’s
spokesperson thrive on deceit.
The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN,
has said slammed President Goodluck
Jonathan for recognizing Plateau state
governor, Jonah Jang, as the
“chairman” of the Nigerian Governors’
Forum, despite Mr. Jang having been
defeated by his Rivers state
counterpart, Chibuike Amaechi.
The party said it is a travesty of
democracy for Mr. Jonathan, who has
repeatedly claimed not to have had
any interest in, or backed any
candidate for the forum’s election, to
recognize Mr. Jang, even when the
governor had lost to Mr. Amaechi in
what has been widely acknowledged
as a free, fair and transparent poll.
In a statement issued in Osogbo on
Sunday by its National Publicity
Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party
said the President’s “ill-advised”
decision has shown that he has little
or no respect for democracy, and will
stop at nothing to jettison time-tested
ideals on the altar of political
opportunism.
It said the recognition of the defeated
candidate for the Chairmanship of the
NGF has also shown that the
president’s spokesmen either do not
know the thinking of their principal or
have chosen to engage in downright
lies in his defence.
”President Jonathan is frittering away
whatever is left of his credibility by the
day,’” the party said. “His spokesman
said in a statement the day after the
NGF election that ‘the President has
always shown a willingness to work
harmoniously with any leadership
freely and independently chosen by
the Governors Forum for the collective
progress and development of all
sections of the country and will
continue to do so.
”’President Jonathan trusts that as true
democrats and respected national
political leaders, members of the
Governors Forum will quickly resolve
the issues and differences amongst
them which emerged yesterday (May
24th) and continue to contribute
effectively to national development as
a strong, and progressive body’.
ACN however said ”…it is now clear
that the presidency’s statement is not
worth the paper on which it is written,
that in the Nigerian presidency, words
do not carry their exact meanings and
that the spokesmen for the President
speak for no one but themselves.
When viewed in the context of similar
deceitful statements by the presidency
in the past, especially on the health of
the First Lady, one can see a growing
pattern of a lying presidency, a
presidency that likes to hide behind
one finger.
This is sad, because without
credibility, a president cannot govern
successfully,” ACN said.
The party said the president, who
should be looked up to as the father
of all, has become the father of a few
“renegades”, and descended from
being the President of Nigeria to the
President of the PDP and now the
President of a faction of the PDP.
”This President is daily cementing his
unenviable reputation as the most
divisive President in the history of
Nigeria. By raising partisan politics to a
pedestal higher than national interest,
he has divided the country along
religious, ethnic and political lines
more than any of his predecessors,”
the party said.
”In the process he has destroyed or
about to destroy national institutions
and organisations. First, he
succumbed to the pressure from his
party to deal with the judiciary for
daring to reverse the outcome of
some of PDP’s rigged polls.
But for a courageous Chief Justice of
Nigeria who cannot be teleguided
now in the saddle, the judiciary will
have been emasculated altogether
”Then the President all but put an end
to the fight against corruption, which
is widely acknowledged as a canker
worm that is fast destroying the fabric
of our society, and now he has
destroyed the NGF. This is not an
enviable legacy for any President,” it
said.
Source:premiumtimesng.com/news/national/137297-acn-slams-jonathan-for-backing-jangs-faction-of-ngf.html