RE: SUBSIDY SCAM: CAPITAL OIL'S SCAPEGOATISM

I sympathise with Ifeanyi Uba in his current ordeal. However, it is high time we Nigerian stop throwing stones at our leaders whenever certain policies don't favour us.

In his write up, Dave I. Dave did a very bad job in trying to paint our president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan in bad colours. For starters, please note that I do not hold the brief for president Jonathan. I am neither one of his employees/appointees. Neither am I an official of PDP (peoples' democratic party). However, I am an objective Nigerian who believes in the project Nigeria.

It is wrong for people who have challenges to lay the blame at the door steps of our leaders. Ifeanyi Uba has had a very robust relationship with the government. For Dave I. Dave to now allude his current travails to "scapegotism" by the Goodluck Jonathan administration is (to me) very unfair. More ludicrous is his allegation that the President is going after Uba because of Uba's decision to pursue his governorship ambition under the APGA instead of PDP. This is very unfair to the president. If there is any president who has, with his actions, encouraged opposition parties to win elections, that president is President Goodluck. We have not forgotten in a hurry the politics of do or die, which enabled mandates freely given by the Edo, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun people to be brazenly stolen. Under President Jonathan's watch, the great Mr Fix it, Chief Tony Anenih, and the president's chief of staff- Chief Oghiadumhe, both lost Edo state to the Action Congress of Nigeria. It is therefore very unfair for Mr Dave I. Dave to now accuse the same president of witch hunting Uba because of Uba's love for APGA.

Furthermore, in an attempt to prove his point, Dave I. Dave brought in the case of my mentor and leader, Chief James Onanefe Ibori. He alleged that an off remark by Chief Ibori at a public function got him the anger of President Jonathan. My advice to Dave is next time you want to write about people, please run proper checks on your facts. I am an Ibori man. I make no apology to that. But it is wrong for you to reduce my mentor to beer parlour discussion. Chief Ibori with all his travails, is a PDP man and has highest regards for the authority at the centre.

Recall that under President Yar' Adua - who Chief Ibori was very close to, Chief Ibori spent approximately three months in Kaduna prison. But Chief Ibori came out and embraced President Yar' Adua. Chief Ibori is a great statesman who has no evil thought to any body. He has long forgiven all who have a hand in his current ordeal. Even those who will offend him tomorrow have been forgiven in advance. Chief Ibori has no problem with President Jonathan and I am sure the president too has no problem with Chief Ibori. My candid advice to Dave I.

Dave is for him to advice Ifeanyi Uba to follow the footsteps of Chief Ibori by proving his case before the court. Chief Ibori successfully proved his case before the Nigeria courts and he was accordingly discharged. That judgment has not been upturned by any court in Nigeria. Even in the United Kingdom, Chief Ibori successfully got the British judiciary to drop the corruption charges (for lack of evidence). However, when the British came up with charges which they said contravened their own laws, Chief Ibori pleaded guilty having been thoroughly fatigued. I issued a public statement accepting the UK judgment. We did not accuse anyone -nay President Jonathan - of being the demon behind Chief Ibori's travails. So please go fight your battles and stop trying to drag others into your challenge. The Nigeria judiciary has proven to be one we can trust. I believe they will do justice to Ifeanyi Uba's case. Please help Uba build a good defence and stop pointing accusing fingers to our President. Our president is not a saint, but he is our president and we should encourage him rather than pull him down.

Let me also correct your misinformation on Aliko Dangote and MRS. The chief promoter of MRS is Sayyu Dantata and not Aliko Dangote. Also, Femi Otedola has not been indicted by the subsidy probe because he imports mostly diesel. So please check your facts properly before going to press.

Finally, let me restate that I am not President Jonathan's spokesman. I have spoken as a Nigerian who believes the right thing should be done always. If President Jonathan turns a villian, I'll be one of the first to criticise him. For now, let's join hands with our elected leaders to build a great Nigeria. Anyone who we don't like, we can send such a person home at the next election.

I am done.
Written By Sir Solomon Ejase-Tobrise Udele
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