Charlez Blog

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described President Goodluck Jonathan’s recognition of the Jonah Jang-led faction of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) as a travesty of democracy even though Jang lost to Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in what has been widely acknowledged as a free, fair and transparent NGF poll.
In a statement issued in Osogbo on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the ACN said the President’s ill-advised decision is an indication of his little or no respect for democracy, and will stop at nothing to jettison time-tested ideals on the altar of political opportunism.
The party said the recognition of the losing candidate for the Chairmanship of the NGF has also shown that the President’s spokesmen either do not know the thinking of their principal or have chosen to engage in downright lies in his defence.
“President Jonathan is frittering away whatever is left of his credibility by the day. His spokesman said in a statement the day after the NGF election that ‘the President has always shown a willingness to work harmoniously with any leadership freely and independently chosen by the Governors Forum for the collective progress and development of all sections of the country and will continue to do so.’
However, ACN noted, “But it is now clear that the presidency’s statement is not worth the paper on which it is written, that in the Nigerian presidency, words do not carry their exact meanings and that the spokesmen for the President speak for no one but themselves. When viewed in the context of similar deceitful statements by the presidency in the past, especially on the health of the First Lady, one can see a growing pattern of a lying presidency, a presidency that likes to hide behind one finger. This is sad, because without credibility, a President cannot govern successfully,” ACN said.
The party said Jonathan, who should be looked up to as the father of all, has become the father of a ‘few renegades’,and descended from being the President of Nigeria to the President of the PDP and now the President of a faction of the PDP.
“This President is daily cementing his unenviable reputation as the most divisive President in the history of Nigeria. By raising partisan politics to a pedestal higher than national interest, he has divided the country along religious, ethnic and political lines more than any of his predecessors.”