The
office of the First Lady has maintained that neither the Rivers State
Governor, Rotimi Amaechi nor his wife have come to the State House,
Abuja to condole First Lady, Dame Patience like.
This was contained
in a statement issued Wednesday night by the Director of Information in
the First Lady’s office, Mrs. Ayo Adesugba.
The statement quoted the First Lady as saying that gesture of compassion comes from the Heart.
The statement reads: “ Many of us claim to serve God. God, whether as
Christians or Muslims is compassionate in nature. If truly we serve him,
this should reflect in our actions.”
“We restate for the avoidance
of doubt that neither the Rivers State Governor nor his wife have come
to the State House, Abuja like so many other people from all walks of
life, to condole with the First Family.”
“This is a gesture of
compassion that comes from the heart. The First Lady, Dame Patience
Jonathan, therefore holds no resentment towards anyone who does not wish
to come to the State House, or to her residence in Port Harcourt to
extend the act of commiseration.”
“The Nation newspaper of today,
21/08/2013, on page 50, carried two pictures of the wife of the Governor
of Rivers State, Dame Judith Amaechi. One of the pictures showed Mrs.
Amaechi signing a register with the caption: “Wife of the Rivers State
Governor, Dame Judith Amaechi signing a condolence register during a
visit to Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Dr. Patience Jonathan at the Oba’s
King Perekule GRA, Port Harcourt residence to commiserate with her on
the death of her mother, Mrs. Charity Sisi Oba…”
“Another smaller picture shows the First Lady and the Governor’s wife walking side by side. The pictures
are obviously in response to a release issued by the Office of the
First Lady on 19/08/2013 which stated in part that: It is instructive to
note that since the death of Mrs. Charity Oba, the mother of the First
Lady, several groups and individuals from across the country have come
to condole the First Family at the State House, Abuja.”
“They
include Executive State Governors and their wives from all the political
divides; Nigeria’s former Presidents and Heads of State and their
wives, captains of industry, female Ambassadors and High Commissioners
of Nigeria, other members of the diplomatic corps, royal fathers and
traditional leaders – the list is too numerous to call.”
She went on: “However, the Governor and the wife from the State which the First Lady hails have not paid such a visit.”
“The caption in The Nation states that the photographs were taken in
the house of the late mother of Dame Patience, Mrs. Charity Oba.
However, the First Lady did not receive guests for condolence visits in
her late mother’s home.”
“All those who come to pay condolences and
commiserate with Dame Patience during her visit to Rivers State, came to
the First Lady’s residence in Port Harcourt, where arrangements were
made and facilities were made available to receive sympathizers.”
“We can borrow a leaf from His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who
went to Lagos State with some members of his Executive Council, to
commiserate with Governor Babatunde Fashola on the demise of his father,
Alhaji Ademola Fashola.”
“Death does not know age, gender or political party affiliation. Neither should compassion.” She added
Source: The Nation

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