citizenY:

it is difficult to believe anyone anymore. This is kid stuff. They should find more plausible reasons
for not giving Jonathan his due responsibility in the absence of the president. All this beating
about the bush will not help. Who is to be held responsible for the mess - Abba Aji who opened the
letter?

banom:

@ Topic,

Story, they want to use the Senator and play the scape goat game.

Gbawe:

Indeed. Yar Adua regularly comes up with diversionary nonsense like this to cover his misdeed. Was it not how , after huge outcry , Yar Adua pretended he did not order that El-Rufai be refused a Nigerian passport? He then carried out a token sack to 'demonstrate' that he was oblivious of the instructions against the issuance of a passport to El-Rufai !!! This Yar Adua should just go. He is decietful, selfish and clueless !!! Nigerians now see through him and his motley crew with ease .

Gbawe:

I have just noted that the source of the report is thisday online. Everything makes sense suddenly. Thisday are the unofficial and shameless launderer of Yar Adua's image. They tell blatantly ridiculous lie to Nigerians , on behalf of Yar Adua  , regularly.

However, Abba-Aji, THISDAY learnt, was on his way to the National Assembly when he opened one of the letters and read the content and then decided to advise the President against it.

Fhemmmy:

Even a small slowpoke knows that while yaradua was out of the nation and cant perform his duties, jonathan ought to take over, that is the usefulness of a VP.
Else, i will like someone to tell me his duties.

Eziachi:


Nigeria VP position is as useful as a cow dung. [b][size=14pt]Atiku tried to give it a meaning and it nearly cost him everything, let alone a mumu like Jonathan Badluck.[/size][/b]You can only imagine the type of crude joke at his expense behind his back?

Abba-Aji Denies Scuttling Yar’Adua’s Letter

Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, has denied knowledge of any letter written by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to the leadership of the National Assembly on his medical vacation in Saudi Arabia.
THISDAY had reported yesterday that before Yar’Adua left the country for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, he indeed wrote, signed and sent a letter of vacation to the National Assembly.
However, the Special Adviser to the President reportedly advised him against the letter because of the delicate political nature of the issue, believing that the President’s return to his seat after vacation might not be automatic as the National Assembly could stop him.
But in his reaction yesterday, Abba-Aji said the report was false, insisting that Yar’Adua did not convey any such letter through his office to the National Assembly.
Abba-Aji, in a one-page letter to THISDAY signed by the Head, Press and Public Relations Department of his office, Mr. Charles Akpan, stated: “The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters would want to categorically refute the content of your Headline News titled ‘How Abba-Aji Scuttled Yar’Adua’s vacation Letter’ of Monday, December 7, 2009.
“The Special Adviser would want to make clear that at no time did the President convey his desire to go on vacation through a letter routed from his Office to the National Assembly.
“He would also want to refute the content of the story especially, in relation to himself.  Conse-quently, the Special Adviser demand (sic) a retraction of the story.  He also expect (sic) the retraction to be given the same prominence as the Headline news.”
In another statement, entitled: “Re: How Abba-Aji Scuttled Yar’ Adua’s Vacation Letter,” widely circulated yesterday in Abuja and signed by Abba-Aji, he said: “My attention has been drawn to the above-stated banner headline on the front page of Monday, December 7, 2009 edition of THISDAY Newspapers.
“The report went ahead to state that I deliberately withheld an official communication from His Excellency, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives informing the leadership of the National Assembly of his decision to proceed on vacation to Saudi Arabia.
“Without beating about the bush, I wish to state unequivocally that the report was false in its entirety as I took no delivery of such communication neither personally nor by proxy. 
“It is therefore unfair for any person or group to erroneously state that I took delivery of such a sensitive official communication from Mr. President but failed to deliver such to its destinations, as contained in the THISDAY report.
“More worrisome to me was the fact that the writer of that report failed to contact me to confirm the authenticity of such report before going to press.
“It is surprising that a national newspaper could go to town with a report of that gravity without bothering to seek confirmation from me. Strangely enough, the writer claimed to have filed his report from Sokoto. But the last time I visited Sokoto was in 2007, over two years ago.
“I hereby state that the report as contained in the said edition of THISDAY newspaper emanated from the restless imagination of the writer apparently for reasons best known to him.
“I therefore vehemently reject all insinuations and far-fetched political manoeuvrings attributed to my person by the writer of that report.
“It is my official duty to deliver official communications from Mr. President to the National Assembly. But in the case in question, there was no such communication from The Presidency.”

We Stand by Our Story - ThisDay

Contrary to claims made by Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, on his role in scuttling President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s vacation letter to the leadership of the National Assembly, THISDAY hereby states categorically that it is standing by its story.
We have three posers for Abba-Aji, who did his best to deny a story he knew to be correct in every material particular.
One, as the man responsible for the legislative agenda of the President and his relationship with the National Assembly, what advice did he give to the President before his previous and present medical trips to Saudi Arabia, knowing very well the constitutional provisions on the President’s health, travels and vacation?
Two, what is Abba-Aji’s position on the constitutional provision on the President’s travels and the need to write to the leadership of the National Assembly so that the Vice-President can properly become the Acting President? We ask Abba-Aji to come out clearly and make his position known.
Three, did Abba-Aji at anytime last year tell the President that since former President Olusegun Obasanjo never wrote to the National Assembly anytime he was going on vacation or attending to his health, Yar’Adua should follow the same line and not write to the National Assembly? Did he or did he not also canvass this position with other top Presidency officials?
Yesterday, Abba-Aji was moving from office to office, from the Vice-President to the Senate President and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives seeking to persuade them that he never advised the President not to write a vacation letter. What was that about? What was he trying to achieve? Is he shifting loyalty because of the President’s absence through ill-health?
We challenge Abba-Aji to come out publicly to explain his positions on all these issues and disclose the motives behind his actions for the benefit of all Nigerians.

…We Stand by Our Story
12.08.2009

Contrary to claims made by Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, on his role in scuttling President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s vacation letter to the leadership of the National Assembly, THISDAY hereby states categorically that it is standing by its story.
We have three posers for Abba-Aji, who did his best to deny a story he knew to be correct in every material particular.
One, as the man responsible for the legislative agenda of the President and his relationship with the National Assembly, what advice did he give to the President before his previous and present medical trips to Saudi Arabia, knowing very well the constitutional provisions on the President’s health, travels and vacation?
Two, what is Abba-Aji’s position on the constitutional provision on the President’s travels and the need to write to the leadership of the National Assembly so that the Vice-President can properly become the Acting President? We ask Abba-Aji to come out clearly and make his position known.
Three, did Abba-Aji at anytime last year tell the President that since former President Olusegun Obasanjo never wrote to the National Assembly anytime he was going on vacation or attending to his health, Yar’Adua should follow the same line and not write to the National Assembly? Did he or did he not also canvass this position with other top Presidency officials?
Yesterday, Abba-Aji was moving from office to office, from the Vice-President to the Senate President and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives seeking to persuade them that he never advised the President not to write a vacation letter. What was that about? What was he trying to achieve? Is he shifting loyalty because of the President’s absence through ill-health?
We challenge Abba-Aji to come out publicly to explain his positions on all these issues and disclose the motives behind his actions for the benefit of all Nigerians.

becomrich,:

If Abba-Aji is saying it is not true. Then Yar adua can be impeach under the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.

The constitution says Yar adua must.