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Following his allegation that Nigeria is gradually slipping in to fascism under the watch of President Goodluck Jonathan, while reacting to Tuesday’s impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, the Presidency yesterday tongue-lashed a chieftain 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 governor and one of the pro-democracy activists, who confronted Nigeria’s then military dictators, to denigrate the office of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, adding that the tenets of democracy is the ability of actors to accept defeat when they lose a contest.
Sunday Vanguard reports that the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, made this known yesterday in a chat.
Alkali urged the ex-Lagos governor to respect the office of the President, an office he observed, leaders of the APC were also aspiring to occupy.
Tinubu, after the events which led to the impeachment of former Governor Nyako from office by the State’s House of Assembly, had described the development as a setback for Nigeria’s democracy, adding that under the Mr. Jonathan Nigeria was fast becoming a fascist nation.
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”, the presidential said.
