Those pasting the 2015 campaign posters of President Goodluck Jonathan are out to distract him, Dr. Reuben Abati said yesterday.
Abati, the President’s spokesman, was reacting for the second time in 24 hours to the posters which flooded Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, from New Year’s Day. He spoke to State House correspondents.
He also said the security agencies do not need to wait for the President’s directives before going after sponsors of the re-election posters.
Abati’s word: “The security agencies have their jobs cut out for them. If they feel there is anything that is likely to disturb the polity, that is likely to affect the integrity of the state or they feel something has happened and they need information that needs to be investigated, then of course they will do their job.
“They don’t even need to wait for presidential directive. It is part of their normal duty to find out what is happening in the environment, particularly if what has happened is a matter of public interest.
“Our position remains that President Jonathan has not launched any campaign for re-election in 2015. He has not asked anybody to go and paste posters around Abuja. Whoever those people are, they are acting on their own. They are not President Jonathan’s agents. They are on to their own mischief.”
“The second leg is that the President has been consistent with the
issue of 2015. In the last presidential media chat, he said he was not
talking about 2015 as at this moment. He had been given an assignment by
the Nigerian people, which is to see through the transformation agenda,
to ensure the different changes he has promised in life and society.
That is what he remains committed to,” he said.
On why the President did not order the removal of the posters if he is not behind them, Abati said it was not the President’s job but that of people whose job is to ensure that things go on well within the Nigerian state.
He said: “The President does not need to give any order. People whose job it is to ensure that nothing goes wrong within the Nigerian state will do their job. They will make their own assessment; they will do their own investigations. If they feel that there is any threat whatsoever to public peace, to rule of law and order, they will make sure that that is not allowed.
“What I am telling you is that the President has not launched any campaign. What all of these show you is that the contestation for power in Nigeria is quite a complex one and people will go to any length to push their own agenda. This is not coming from the President. When the President takes a position in terms of his own personal involvement or otherwise with regards to the 2015 elections, you can be sure he will come out to Nigerians and say this is where he stands on this matter the same way he did on previous occasions. But the President is not going to adopt this kind of tactics that you see on display.”
Abati also asserted that those behind the posters are only doing it to distract the President.
He said: “Those who are bent on distracting this government have brought out the posters. I repeat that President Jonathan knows nothing about it. The President of Nigeria has an office that is so important that he cannot behave in a cowardly manner. This is a man who is honest and with the reputation of being honest.”
THE NATION
Abati, the President’s spokesman, was reacting for the second time in 24 hours to the posters which flooded Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, from New Year’s Day. He spoke to State House correspondents.
He also said the security agencies do not need to wait for the President’s directives before going after sponsors of the re-election posters.
Abati’s word: “The security agencies have their jobs cut out for them. If they feel there is anything that is likely to disturb the polity, that is likely to affect the integrity of the state or they feel something has happened and they need information that needs to be investigated, then of course they will do their job.
“They don’t even need to wait for presidential directive. It is part of their normal duty to find out what is happening in the environment, particularly if what has happened is a matter of public interest.
“Our position remains that President Jonathan has not launched any campaign for re-election in 2015. He has not asked anybody to go and paste posters around Abuja. Whoever those people are, they are acting on their own. They are not President Jonathan’s agents. They are on to their own mischief.”
“The second leg is that the President has been consistent with the
issue of 2015. In the last presidential media chat, he said he was not
talking about 2015 as at this moment. He had been given an assignment by
the Nigerian people, which is to see through the transformation agenda,
to ensure the different changes he has promised in life and society.
That is what he remains committed to,” he said.On why the President did not order the removal of the posters if he is not behind them, Abati said it was not the President’s job but that of people whose job is to ensure that things go on well within the Nigerian state.
He said: “The President does not need to give any order. People whose job it is to ensure that nothing goes wrong within the Nigerian state will do their job. They will make their own assessment; they will do their own investigations. If they feel that there is any threat whatsoever to public peace, to rule of law and order, they will make sure that that is not allowed.
“What I am telling you is that the President has not launched any campaign. What all of these show you is that the contestation for power in Nigeria is quite a complex one and people will go to any length to push their own agenda. This is not coming from the President. When the President takes a position in terms of his own personal involvement or otherwise with regards to the 2015 elections, you can be sure he will come out to Nigerians and say this is where he stands on this matter the same way he did on previous occasions. But the President is not going to adopt this kind of tactics that you see on display.”
Abati also asserted that those behind the posters are only doing it to distract the President.
He said: “Those who are bent on distracting this government have brought out the posters. I repeat that President Jonathan knows nothing about it. The President of Nigeria has an office that is so important that he cannot behave in a cowardly manner. This is a man who is honest and with the reputation of being honest.”
THE NATION
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