Although there might be other political reasons for their 'roforofo' fight, the recent exchange of words through the press started when the APC leader Chief Akande accused GEJ of treating national issues with levity, and referred to him as a 'Kindergarten' President. The President then responded through his the special adviser on media and publicity, telling him to 'respect his age' and threatening to sue him for Libel.
The war of words between the Presidency and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership continued yesterday as the latter dared the Federal Government to go to court if its interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, libelled President Goodluck Jonathan.
Chief Akande fired the first shot at the weekend at a press conference in his Ila Orangun residence in Osun State, when he accused President Jonathan of treating national issues with levity.
President Jonathan, through his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, on Sunday advised Akande to respect his age, telling him that he was rude to the President.
But responding to Abati's verbal war yesterday, the APC asked Jonathan to go to court if he felt libelled by the description of his presidency as kindergarten by Akande.
In a statement issued in Accra , Ghana by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC said Chief Akande merely told the truth by his characterization of the Jonathan presidency, adding, ''isn't truth a defense to libel?''
It also said there was nothing strange or wrong in criticizing a democratically-elected president, after all he is neither an imperial president, a monarchy nor an emperor.
APC said nothing confirmed Chief Akande's assertion that Jonathan is running a kindergarten presidency than the crude manner it (presidency) responded to the frank, but constructive criticism by the APC National Chairman.
''In the true character of this presidency, its increasingly irreverent and undignified spokesman failed to respond to the issues raised by Chief Akande, and instead chose to haul abuses at a man who is old enough to be his father. Such irresponsible act does no credit to the spokesman or the president he is serving, and Nigerians will definitely not forget such crudity in a hurry.
''Where is the presidency's response to Chief Akande's assertion that he has written two letters to the President over the serious challenges facing the country, without getting a response? Where is the presidency's response to Chief Akande's assertion that President Jonathan is witch-hunting political opponents? These are the issues that Nigerians are interested in, not how many hours the President sleeps at night because he is supposedly working tirelessly.
''In any case, if indeed this President is working tirelessly, we need to ask who he is working for, because Nigerians have yet to feel the impact of his administration. They are also not interested in the fact that the President once served as deputy governor, governor and vice president, because the experiences he supposedly garnered from doing so have not impacted positively on his duty as President. That's not a surprise, considering that the President owes his meteoric rise in politics to luck and destiny. Nothing else!'' the party said
The APC described the presidency as under-achieving, always eager to celebrate tokenism, using questionable statistics.
''As the presidency was composing its empty response to the serious issues raised by our highly-respected Chairman, the African Development Bank was saying in its annual report (African Economic Outlook), quoted by the local media on Sunday, that the proportion of people (Nigerians) living below the national poverty line has worsened from 65.5 per cent in 1996 to 69.0 per cent in 2010, most of those years under the PDP and the last four under President Jonathan.
''What therefore, is there to celebrate in a presidency under which power generation has fallen to 2,500MW? What is there to celebrate in a presidency that has only given Nigerians widespread insecurity, unemployment, dilapidated infrastructure, oil theft and unbridled corruption. Of what use is the touted 6% increase in the GDP when over 40% of our youth are unemployed?, APC queried
The party described as a figment of the presidency's imagination the claim of a feud between its leaders, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), saying the PDP and the presidency have been peddling lies over a phantom feud because they could not fathom how the leadership of the APC could put national interest above personal considerations.
''Mr. President, don't let your lick-spittle aides deceive you. There is absolutely no feud between the two leaders. Waiting for such a feud is like 'Waiting for Godot','' the statement noted.
I decide to post this, to get your views on the matter. Truth is, I'm not a fan of APC or Nigerian politics, but I'm not blind to the fact that some very salient points were made in their latest statement. However this is not to say, that if the APC were in power, things will be better; we all know how politicians are quick to criticize their opponents but when given the chance do no better.
*Politics sha.. It is only when they want to yab each other that they begin to blow grammar*
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