THE
Presidency, on Tuesday, accused the opposition of lacking respect for the truth
in their desperation to bring down President Goodluck Jonathan at all cost.
Presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, gave the position in a
statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja, in reaction to the accusation made by the
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) about the president missing Nigeria’s
slot to address the just concluded 21st Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads
of State and Governments.
The Presidency took particular exception to the campaign of
calumny allegedly perpetrated by the spokesman of the CPC, Rotimi Fashakin,
over the summit, in spite of facts provided on the full participation of the
president in the continental engagement.
According to Abati, “we are dealing with such hideous and second
rate characters in Nigeria’s public space, belonging to the ACN and the CPC,
and that other would-be disaster-prone mongrel called APC, that they won’t even
respect the truth.”
He noted that in a release entitled: “President Jonathan’s AU
summit gaffe,” Rotimi “displayed such habitual indolence and brainlessness that
his heirs must be eternally ashamed of, and which I consider offensive and
needlessly disruptive. His subject is the just-ended AU at 50 summit in Addis
Ababa.”
Abati added: “I invite more cerebral and decent persons to
consider the facts. President Jonathan ,as the leader of the Nigerian
delegation to the AU summit in Addis Ababa and the 50th anniversary of the
Organisation of African Unity (OAU), indeed, put up a sterling performance,
using the opportunity of the trip to further promote Nigeria’s interests and to
strengthen Nigeria’s relationships with other countries.
“He held bilateral meetings with the UN Secretary General and
the leaders of Jamaica, Egypt, Swaziland, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire. He granted
interviews to the media, both local and international. He also participated in
a special session on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, at which he invited
other world leaders to the Abuja+12 conference to be hosted in Nigeria,
mid-June.
“President Jonathan is an accomplished diplomat and a
responsible leader under whose watch Nigeria’s foreign policy process and
international relations have been strengthened with commendable results.”
The presidential spokesman accused Fashakin of failing to do
minimal research that any right-thinking person would attempt before jumping to
the conclusion that President Jonathan missed his slot at the AU and that
nobody represented him.
According to the Presidency, “the nature of his mental indolence
is understandable. In this attempt to pull President Jonathan down at all
costs, lies have become standard stuff, mischief a major commodity, and
indecency a character flaw.
“President Jonathan does not owe anyone an apology for serving
Nigeria diligently and truthfully. Fashakin’s reference to an incident in
Australia is also wrong-headed, because the allegation is false.”
Source: Tribune
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