ABATI ON BEHALF OF GEJ...PRESIDENTIAL REPLY OR GROSS NONSENSE?

Reuben Abati

Jonathan challenges Obasanjo to provide proof of snipers

The Presidency yesterday challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to provide evidence backing his claims that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is training secret snipers towards the 2015 general elections.
The December 2, 18-page letter written by Obasanjo was widely published last week. Among the issues raised by the ex-President is the allegation that snipers were being trained ahead of the 2015 elections. He also said 1,000 people had been put on political watch list.
Although the statement by Presidential Adviser on Media and Publicity Dr. Reuben Abati, did not mention the ex-President by name, it was clearly a response to that portion of his letter.
The Presidency requested the former President to prove his claims or forever remain silent.
It also took on opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) for calling on the National Assembly to impeach President Jonathan.
The statement reads: “President Jonathan is running a people’s government. He does not need any snipers. His legitimacy comes from the people. Those who are alleging the existence of snipers should step forward and provide the evidence or shut up forever and go down in history as spineless cowards, driven by sheer greed and indecency.”
It described the call by the APC for Jonathan’s impeachment as “reckless and irresponsible.”
“We have noted with utter disdain, the reckless and irresponsible call by the APC on Sunday for the National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan.”
“Ordinarily, we would not have dignified Alhaji Lai Mohammed’s latest vituperations in the service of his paymasters with a response, but we thought it necessary to warn that the Federal Government will not standby idly and let the nation be plunged into unnecessary crises and political instability because of the desperation and apparent readiness of the APC spokesman and his gang of power-seeking desperadoes to sacrifice the well-being of the country on the altar of their selfish personal ambitions.
“The Presidency totally condemns the decision by Alhaji Mohammed and his party to move further beyond the bounds of honourable and acceptable political conduct with the senseless call for the impeachment of a President who continues to sincerely devote himself to the discharge of the sacred mandate freely given to him by Nigerians.”
“The APC, which remains a minority party with doubtful credentials in the National Assembly, knows full well that its attempt to hector and blackmail a Parliament dominated by loyal members of the President’s party, the PDP, into an impeachment process, will come to nothing.”
The statement added: “But it has cavalierly embarked on this outrageous gambit, with scant regard for peace, order, security and political stability in the country, in furtherance of its dastardly and heinous strategy of over-heating the polity and working to cause public disaffection against the Jonathan Presidency with lies, false accusations and unjustifiable indictments ahead of the 2015 general elections.
“The emptiness and hollowness of the APC’s call for President Jonathan’s impeachment will be obvious to all objective and discerning Nigerians who read through the statement issued by Alhaji Mohammed. It was long on self-serving rhetoric and falsehoods, but lacked a single clearly defined charge on the basis of which any plausible impeachment proceedings against the President can be initiated.
“All that the APC could offer in justification of its absurd and hare-brained impeachment call was a rehash of its well-worn litany of baseless accusations against the President, including some for which culpability should be laid squarely at the doorsteps of its own leaders and some of their new friends.
“The Presidency also considers it utterly deplorable that the APC has, in its Machiavellian desperation to seize control of the Federal Government, recklessly assailed the integrity and honour of the Nigerian Judiciary in a callous attempt to pre-empt the outcome of the case legitimately brought against it and some of its new friends by the PDP.
“Alhaji Mohammed’s unscrupulous effort to drag the nation’s judiciary into its murky political warfare and his readiness to intimidate and blackmail members of the bench so as to secure a favourable outcome for his party in the pending case clearly shows that nothing is beyond the pale for him and the APC in pursuit of their quest for power.
The Presidency also said the Jonathan Administration does not need Lai Mohammed or the APC to remind it of its constitutional responsibility for the security and well-being of Nigerians.
“The President will continue to do his utmost best to achieve positive national transformation in all areas in spite of efforts by the opposition to thwart or disparage the work of his administration.
“In this regard, we have noted the undisguised threat by the APC to foster public insurrection against the Federal Government if pending legal cases go against it. We urge Nigerians to take special note of this boastful indication of an intention to resort to lawlessness.The Presidency warns that the APC and any persons who make themselves its willing tools for the breach of public order and safety will be made to face the full sanctions of the law. Those who are threatening fire and brimstone should be ready for consequences of treasonable action.
“The APC’s false copy-cat allegation that 1, 000 snipers are being trained by the Jonathan Administration clearly shows that they are now in cahoots with some other elements who are bent on discrediting this administration and inciting the public against it.
“We dismiss the APC’s call for the President’s impeachment as opportunistic, partisan and ill-motivated. We call on patriots to make the necessary distinction between such reckless violations of civic duty and the urgent need to protect the integrity of the Nigerian nation against those who for selfish reasons have declared their readiness to stop at nothing.”