Presidency, ACN trade words over Jonathan

The Presidency has expressed concerned over what it called the incessant use of disparaging words on the person and office of President Goodluck Jonathan by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).A statement issued yesterday by Special Adviser to the president on Media, Reuben Abati, accused ACN's spokesperson Chief Lai Mohammed of finding pleasure in using degrading words on not just the office but the person of Jonathan.Abati said 'We have observed what is obviously becoming a pastime of the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in disrespecting not only the Office of the President, but also the person of President Jonathan.'But in a swift reaction, the ACN denied the accusation saying its criticisms of the President were constructive and borne out of genuine desire for good governance in the country.In a statement yesterday by Lai Mohammed, ACN said 'the statement by Abati, in which he made the allegation, was so defensive that it easily gives the spokesman away as someone more eager to keep his plum job than to convince Nigerians that his boss' actions and statements are dignifying his high office.'Abati on his part accused Lai of incessant use of improper and abusive language on Jonathan saying 'The ACN spokesman obviously went overboard in the statement he made on Wednesday, which was full of disparaging words about the President. Mohammed advised President Jonathan 'to take a long, hard look at himself in the mirror if he truly wants to see the face of a party leader who is fast turning his party into a one-man show,' because the President said his party, the PDP, is the only truly democratic party in Nigeria.'The ACN spokesman also accused President Jonathan of failing to 'show deep introspection in his public comments,' of 'rushing to exhibit soap-box mentality,' and calling him 'a highly partisan and easily excitable President,'' Abati said.'The ACN spokesman repeatedly resorts to personal attacks and disparaging remarks about the President. It is Mohammed who needs to take a long, hard look at himself in the mirror and ask whether his party is truly a democratic party,' he said.Abati said Lai Mohammed's comments contradict the character of Jonathan saying 'President Jonathan cannot fit into such negative space as cast by Mohammed. Only national interests have dictated this President's governance policies, choice of states to visit and events to attend, as exemplified by his consecutive visits to ACN-controlled Ogun State to commission cement factories and attending the burial of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu in APGA-controlled Anambra State.'ACN said that 'While we will continue to show nothing but total respect for the office of the President, we will not be cowed into relenting in engaging in regular constructive criticism of the government of the day.
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