While the APC flayed President Jonathan for supposedly
diminishing the Presidency through what it claimed as his
unrestrained attack on his one-time benefactor, called on the
president to make peace with him. The PDP accused the
opposition party of being insensitive to the holiday mood of
Nigerians.
The PDP said it would not join the fray as it was devoted to
making good sense of the purpose and essence of Christmas in
giving to the poor and the less privileged people in society.
Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji
Ahmed Gulak equally did not respond to the issue despite an
SMS question sent to him.
The APC in a statement issued by the party's National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed further expressed
the party's reservation that the president used the platform of
the church on Christmas Day to hit at his critics including the
former president.
APC flays Jonathan's reply to Obasanjo
The APC noted that the decision of the president to go
personal in his reaction to the letter from President Obasanjo
crossed the threshold of decency and put the country in
disrepute.
It said: "In other climes, the President would have simply
issued a terse response to such a letter denying the allegations
that border on national security, if any; as well as saying the
former President's observations have been noted, and that the
government would study them and then engage with the
former President in private, while assuring that the ship of
state is on course.
"Instead, the President's response read like the stuff of gossip
magazines, and the exchange of words felt like what one
would have expected in a beer parlour. At the end of the day,
the Presidency allowed Obasanjo to take the higher moral
ground by simply insisting on the allegations he made in his
letter and saying he would not respond to the presidency's
reply.
"The President, who accused Obasanjo of doing him a great
injustice, has himself done a great injustice to the Presidency,
which is an institution in which he is only a tenant. In the end,
the President of Africa's most populous nation, the leader of
the foremost black nation on earth and the Commander-in-
Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
simply desecrated his own presidency and allowed those who
can only be likened to gravy train passengers, rascals and
knaves to seize the initiative from him.
"This is what happens when a President is surrounded by self-
serving, sycophants, at the expense of seasoned technocrats
and veteran policymakers, who would have reminded the
President that while critics can afford to fire all sorts of darts
at him, as the custodian of the presidency at this point in time,
he cannot afford to respond in kind because, in doing so, he
would be debasing the presidency as an institution," APC
said.
Noting that the president's response may have shut the door of
peace between both men, the APC said:
"However, he quickly jettisoned such reluctance and, in an
unfortunate debasement of the tone and quality of statecraft,
went full blast, calling the former President a liar, a conflict
instigator and an unreliable ally, among other inferred
derogatory labels that may have now shut the window to
reconciliation between him and his political God-father, in
addition to portraying Nigerian leaders as delinquents.
"To worsen matters, President Jonathan could not restrain
himself from using even the revered and ecclesial platform
provided by his appearance at a Church service on Christmas
day to further lambast his critics and spew out hot words.
This, surely, is not what is expected of a President, a leader
and anyone who wants to be a nation builder. It is time to call
a truce!" the APC advised.
PDP hits back
Responding to the assertion, the PDP through its National
Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said it would not be
dragged into what it claimed as the propaganda schemes of
the APC as it was devoted to making good sense of the
Christmas celebration.
Asserting that it would get back to the APC after the holiday
season, the PDP said:
"On the 23rd of December the PDP National Working
Committee declared that this Christmas period is a period to
give back to the less privileged, orphans, the widows and to
pray for peace and the unity of this country.
"We stand by it and this is not a season for politics. PDP,
APC and all the parties in Nigeria will remain after this
Christmas season and there is a time for politicking, this is not
the time.
"We are ready, we will face them after this period. But for
now, it is said 'give to Caesar what is Caesar's'. We are
giving to Christmas what Christmas deserves in this period.
This period does not deserve bickering, name calling,
antagonisms and propaganda. This is a season that demands
peace and praying for the unity of the country."
Culled from Vanguard
No comments:
Post a Comment