Presidential aide disagreesPRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan may have stirred the hornets nest by referring to South West governors who are not members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as rascals.But the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ima Niboro, said Jonathan did not mention names in his referrals to rascals in the South West as a way of expressing displeasure over the ousting of PDP governors in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states.Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola fired back at the president yesterday while fielding questions from journalists at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.While addressing a large crowd of supporters at Mapo Hall in Ibadan on Tuesday, the President had said: I can assure you that we will take back Lagos, Ekiti and Osun; we will control the entire South West. Lagos is important to us and I am happy that we have presented our flag to a capable candidate, (Dr Ade) Dosunmu. The entire South-West is too important, too sophisticated and too educated to be in the hands of rascals.Fashola who could not hide his anger over the presidents outburst, said the statement fell short of what was expected from the president of a country or a candidate seeking election to the number one position in a country like Nigeria.His words: I am happy that he has put the remarks in its very appropriate perspective. The office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a very high office and I dont think that this kind of language coming from the PDP presidential candidate is presidential, but Lagosians will have to make the determination. We are beginning to see clearly, the pattern of the candidacy of PDP candidates who seem to lead this country into poverty, inefficiency and insecurity.He further said: Lagos voters will not vote on the basis of luck, I didnt even win this office on the basis of luck. It was won on the basis of the clear manifestoes of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), very clear idea about how we are going to prosper this economy, very hard work that we have done since 1999 as a people. Elections will not be won by resorting to derogatory language and by claiming luck. Elections require those who seek elective office, to focus on the people over which they plan to govern, and to communicate to them in a very clear and practical manner, how they intend to improve their lot.However, in a short response to enquiry by State House Correspondents, Niboro said Please note that the President didnt call any names when he said the south west is too important to be left in the hands of rascals. So any one who wants to appropriate the name to himself is welcome to do soJonathan had expressed happiness that the party had a strong base in the region, adding that they would not leave anything to chance in the forthcoming elections.Following prolonged legal battles, the Appeal Court had ordered the removal of Olusegun Agagu, Segun Oni and Olagunsoye Oyinlola from office as respective governors of Ondo, Ekiti and Osun state, declaring their challengers as the lawful winners of elections that originally brought.On its part, the national secretariat of the ACN said if its governors were rascals as they were reportedly characterised by the President, then Nigeria needs more rascals in governance so they can enjoy the dividends of democracy that are being delivered by those rascals without a cause.In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the ACN said that for example, the rascal in Lagos, Babatunde Fashola, has touched the lives of everyone in the state in the areas of security, good roads, education and standard medical care, just to mention a few, in less than one third of the time the PDP so-called non-rascals have been in charge of Nigeria with nothing to show for it.It said the rascal in Edo, Adams Oshiomhole, has turned around the fortunes of a state in which the PDP governors who preceded him in office could only have dreamt of, while the rascals in Ekiti and Osun (Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola respectively), who are new in the saddle, are already restoring hope to their people, who were literally battered and bruised by their usurper PDP governors.ACN said while it would not want to match President Jonathan on the use of foul language, it would however advise him to remember that he remains the President of all Nigerians, not that of the PDP and its supporters, even when he is giddy with excitement on the soap box.We believe that President Jonathan, in saying that the South-west region is too important to be left to rascals, is a victim of the vicious battering he received from his opponent as the two engaged in unprecedented mudslinging in their campaign for the PDP presidential ticket. It is common knowledge that both exhausted all the denigrating and demeaning words available as they tore at each other.But that battle is over and the President should sheath his sword and refrain from using words that can only make him look unpresidential, no matter how tempting, the party said.The ACN noted, however, that it would remain a pipe dream for the PDP to think it can wrest from the ACN any of the states currently being controlled by the party (ACN).Honestly, we think the PDP should be more concerned about losing more states to the ACN than wrestling power from our party.It then concluded: If the insinuation is that the PDP will resort to the same rigging and brigandage which have brought the party nothing but disgrace, then those behind such thoughts should have a re-think, as Nigerians have decided that they will use all constitutional means to make sure their votes will count in April and in subsequent elections.
Click here to read full news..
