The Presidency has responded to the punches thrown its way by former Head of State and three-time presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement released on Monday. In the statement, in which the former head of state castigated President Goodluck Jonathan for allegedly launching a brutal attack on the opposition in the country, actions he says are plunging the country further into the abyss.
Dr. Reuben Abati
In a statement issued on behalf of the president by Reuben Abati, his Special Adviser on media and publicity, the presidency described Buhari’s statement as uncharitable and unwarranted, advising the chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to blame the president for his party’s woes.
“We have noted with much surprise and regret, the statement issued by General Muhammadu Buhari today in which he made some wild and totally unsustainable allegations against President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. We therefore urge General Buhari to tarry a while, ponder over his own antecedents and do a reality check as to whether he has the moral right to be so carelessly sanctimonious,” the statement began.
According to the statement, “there can be no other explanation or justification for the completely unwarranted and very uncharitable assault on the conduct and integrity of President Jonathan which the statement he issued today represents.”
President Jonathan added: “It may well be time to pull the brakes, as General Buhari says in his statement, but it is he and others who have resorted to idle scapegoating and blaming President Jonathan for their self-inflected political troubles who need to stop their inexcusable partisanship and show greater regard for the truth, democracy, constitutionalism, the rule of law, peace, security and the well-being of the nation.”
Abati, while berating General Buhari and his opposition allies for having resorted to blaming the president for the party’s woes, especially regarding the impeachment Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa and the impeachment moves being made to oust Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State, said “the President remains fully committed to upholding the letters, principles and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution as he has sworn, and defending the rule of law and integrity of the democratic process with all his might.”
In his salvo fired at the president on Monday, General Buhari had said “Whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan is behind the gale of impeachment or the utilization of desperate tactics to suffocate the opposition and turn Nigeria into a one-party state, what cannot be denied is that they are happening under his watch, and he cannot pretend not to know, since that will be akin to hiding behind one finger.
“The dangerous clouds are beginning to gather and the vultures are circling; and these have manifested in Nasarawa where the ordinary people have defied guns and tanks to protest the plan to impeach Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in a repeat of the bitter medicine forced down the throat of Gov. Murtala Nyako.”
Speaking further in a lengthy statement made available to journalists, Buhari said “I, along with many other patriotic Nigerians, fought for the unity and survival of this country. Hundreds of patriotic souls perished in the battle to keep Nigeria one. The blood of many of our compatriots helped to water the birth of the democracy we are all enjoying today.”
Pointing out that he has not made the decision to speak out lightly or to pursue the course of partisan politics, Buhari added: “In my capacity as an elder statesman, rather than a politician, I have spoken to President Jonathan in private over these issues, but indications are that the strategy has not yielded positive fruits,” he said. “I cannot, just because I am an opposition politician, fail to do what is expected of me as an elder statesman to help rescue our nation in times of great trouble and palpable uncertainty.”