Source: http://www.saharareporters.com/letters/your-letters/5175-re-jonathan-govs-in-secret-deal-we-stand-by-our-story--saturday-punch.html

On Monday, 15th February 2010, SATURDAY PUNCH received a statement from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum alleging that the lead story of the February 13, edition of Saturday Punch, "Jonathan, Governors in Secret Deal," was, in the words of the signee of the statement, Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, "misleading and mischievous".
The Forum’s lengthy attempt to deny the story hardly addressed the issues. For example, the statement was silent on the most salient and previously unpublished part of our story: that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan and the governors reached an understanding to dissolve the federal cabinet and to have the governors nominate new ministers.

Rather, the Forum devoted the entire length of its denial to another vital term of the deal: the understanding reached by both parties that funds from the Excess Crude Account should be released immediately by the Acting President after his empowerment.

This term of the deal, which was only mentioned in passing in the SATURDAY PUNCH story, had been extensively reported by its sister publication, PUNCH, and at least one other national newspapers on Tuesday.


We find it curious that the Forum did not even make a feeble attempt in the statement, not even with a sentence, to debunk the kernel of our story that it had reached a deal with the acting president to put forward new ministers.

The rebuttal stresses that altruism and pressure from opinion leaders, elder statesmen and activists necessitated its emergency meeting of the 4th of February, where it resolved that the National Assembly should be urged to pass a resolution empowering the Vice President as Acting President

For the benefit of our readers and the protection of our hard earned reputation as Nigeria’s foremost newspaper, we shall stress the salient facts whose omission rob this incomplete sentence of much needed context. One, the governors only acted 73 clear days after President Umaru Yar’Adua’s sudden departure from the country. Two, they did so 73 days after the ensuing vacuum had thrown the country into a needless crisis. And three, their intervention only came a few days after the Forum had insisted, as it had done for long, that there was no vacuum despite the ailing president’s lengthy absence.

Again, while it may indeed be true that funds in Excess Crude Account (ECA) belongs to the three tiers of Government, it is untrue that "states would have no special benefits or interests in requesting that funds in the ECA be disbursed since the three tiers of government benefit collectively from such disbursements."

The governor’s claim flies in the face of Nigeria ’s prevailing political reality, where state governments have, in the past, frequently diverted allocation meant for local governments. The most recent example is that of a Local Government Chairman in a South Western state who claimed that the state government deducted over 50 per cent (N48.1m) of his council’s allocation (N85) from its November 2009 allocation from the Federation Account.

Neither SATURDAY PUNCH, nor any of its sister publications, took a wrong step in the coverage of the unfortunate events of the past days. We stand by our story.



Comments (3)
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Bil Bis said:
,
Punch should not take those liars serious. Men who call themselves "excellency" lying for over 70 days with no shame. Tufiakwa!. Forumites: never again shall we say we have Statesmen in Nigeria except in the mould of Wole, Bakare, Falana, Ebitu, Akinrinade, Gowon, Nnamani Ken, and a few others.
Imo people must remove that Ohakim from desecrating their govt house with blood. Abia people: time to remove Theo Orji, Orji Uzo and Eunice Uzo from stranglehold on Abians and merciless looting. 2011 is the time to shove them all out!

February 15, 2010

JIMMY IWEALA said:
,
THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER, AS A RESPONSIBLE CORPORATE ENTITY, YOU NEED NOT RESPOND TO BUKOLA SARAKI. IF HE IS INTELLIGENT, HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT HE CAME ONLINE TO MAKE MOCKERY OF HIMSELF. PLEASE LEAVE NIGERIANS TO DO THAT.
HE NEVER DEBUNKED THE FACT PUBLISHED, BUT GAVE MORE INFORMATION TO SUPPORT YOUR PUBLICATION
I WOULD HAVE BEEN MIFFED IF HE ATTACKED THE GUARDIAN OR THISDAY - GOVERNMENT PARASTATALS, BECAUSE THEY ALL WORK TOGETHER TO DERAIL NIGERIANS DEMOCRACY THAT IS MANAGED BY CROOKS
BUKOLA SARAKI SHAME ON YOU


February 15, 2010

Paradigm Shift said:
,
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!
Clap for yourself!!! tap tap tata tap taaap!!!!!

No matter wetiin una do, u no go fit stop the devil from executing his promises of demoralizing sons of Adam. So the weak will surely fall victim while the honest, generous, sincere and truthful will be free and made winners at the end of this crazy situation we find ourselves in. Them fit hide or try deny their evil deeds but what me and my fellow people that still have faith in Allah know is that GOD ALMIGHTY they watch every single thing wey dey happen underground including the ant-hills talkless of abuja mansions.