TINUBU, OTHERS HAVE LOST FOCUS — PRESIDENCY

FOR daring to accuse President Goodluck Jonathan of encouraging fascism in the nation’s polity following Tuesday’s impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, the Presidency yesterday lampooned the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saying he has lost focus.
According to the Presidency, it was least expected of a leader in the person of Asiwaju Tinubu, a former govenor and one who has fought vigorously for the restoration of democracy to denigrate the office of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the country, adding that the tenets of democracy is the ability of players to accept defeat when they lose a contest.
Speaking with Sunday Vanguard yesterday, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, urged the former governor of Lagos State to respect the office of the President, an office he observed, leaders of the APC were also aspiring to.
Asiwaju Tinubu, after the events which culminated in last week’s impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State by the State’s House of Assembly, had said the development was a setback for Nigeria’s democracy, adding that President Goodluck Jonathan was encouraging what he termed fascism in the polity.
But Alkali said, “It is very strange for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, someone who has led government before, someone who has been in the forefront of advancing democracy for many years, to descend so low as to cast aspersions on the President of this country on issues he cannot prove. It appears to me that since the Ekiti election, which PDP decisively won, Tinubu and APC leaders have lost their focus. This is democracy, it gives everybody the right to speak; but in doing so, you should not undermine institutions of governance, the same institution you are aspiring to take over and manage.
“Recently, the Adamawa State House of Assembly impeached their governor and even as that happened, the APC was up in arms, that it was Mr. President that impeached the governor of Adamawa State. Why should he do that and how can he do that? Are you saying the 24 or 25 members of the House of Assembly are not in control of their constituencies, that there are no leaders or stakeholders in Adamawa State who worked for or with former Governor Nyako who could have stopped any of these practices.
“PDP has lost a lot to opposition political parties. I have said this repeatedly either at the court or more recently through defection, yet PDP stood firm and said let us continue to build on what we have and move forward.
“After losing Ekiti, the story has changed. It is time for them to tell one another the home truth. If they are prepared to govern this country, then they must be prepared also to accept the principle of popular democracy that the people of this country would want to choose who should lead them and if they don’t, can’t or fail to convince people, they must also be ready to admit failure”
Source: Vanguard