The
All Progressives Congress on Wednesday continued its war of words
with the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party over the
suitability of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for the presidential election.
While the APC believes that fielding Jonathan as a candidate would
be suicidal for any party, the Presidency and the PDP argued that he
remains the best to contest and win a presidential poll in the country
at present.
The latest war of attrition was spurred by Tuesday’s invitation
to the President by the APC Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, to join the newly formed political party if he was fed up with the crises in the PDP.
Akande had said, “We (the APC) don’t even close our door to the
PDP. If Jonathan is tired of the crises in the PDP, he is welcome in the
APC.”
The Presidency however reacted immediately to the invitation,
saying it was an acknowledgment by the APC of Jonathan’s sterling
leadership qualities.
But in a telephone interview
with one of our correspondents, the Interim National Publicity Secretary
of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it was bad that the
Presidency did not read the statement credited to Akande before
reacting.
According to him, the invitation was not a compliment.
Mohammed said, “When we say the man (Jonathan) should come and join
us, we mean that he should come and see how to run a crisis- free party.
“But unfortunately, his handlers like himself, are unable to read between the lines.
“Fielding President Jonathan will be disastrous and it would amount
to political suicide. The PDP itself also knows that it would be a
double jeopardy if it fields the President in 2015.
“This is because, having lost the moral ground to face the electorate in 2015, the performance of the President since the past years is even appalling.”
But the Presidency on Wednesday reiterated its position that the APC’s invitation of Jonathan was an indication of his national acceptance.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr.
Reuben Abati, told one of correspondents that the Presidency viewed the
invitation as a compliment.
Abati insisted that the invitation had shown clearly that the
leaders of the APC were also aware of the fact that Jonathan was the
best man for the job at present.
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