Presidency berates Tinubu over comments on National Dialogue

The Presidency has flayed the former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for describing the proposed National Dialogue as a scam, 'a Greek gift and an act of public deception' because the conference was announced close to the forthcoming 2015 elections.

The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, stated at a news conference in Abuja on Monday that Tinubu 'spoke for himself,' and his opinion should not be misconstrued to be that of the Yoruba.

The Presidential aide  said, 'It is therefore clear and unarguable that whatever position the APC Leader holds on the issue of the national conference does not represent the views of the majority of Yoruba people in the South-West.'

He  argued that  Tinubu's assertion that there was an ulterior motive for the conference was surely conjectural and speculative, adding that   such a position had no foundations in any reasoning or logic.

Okupe said  it was wrong for Tinubu to cite the non-implementation of the Justice  Muhammed Uwais committee recommendations on electoral reforms as a basis for his action.

He said  the conduct of governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, where the ruling Peoples Democratic Party lost to the opposition, was hailed by the majority of Nigerians, including Tinubu.

'One therefore wonders the mischief that Tinubu intended to play by the alleged non-implementation of reports of the Justice Uwais committee on electoral reforms,' Okupe added.

On whether the President would be bold enough to implement the outcome of the conference, Okupe said this was the first time a Federal Government took a bold initiative to call for a national conference without   'no-go-areas.'

In order to realise this, he said the President had given the advisory committee headed by Senator Femi Okurounmu  the power to determine its nature and or structure.

Okupe also dismissed the claim by Tinubu that the President was organising the conference at a time the PDP was embroiled in internal crises.

He said, 'The APC leader, as usual, is completely off target. Desperate politicians and self-seeking political leaders tend to believe that their quest for power or insatiable appetite for wealth accumulation through politics is superior to the genuine desires and innate aspiration of the ordinary Nigerians.

'While the Tinubus of this world focus only on the 2015 general elections, most patriotic ordinary Nigerians are more concerned with the emergence of a  united  country  based on equity and justice .'

Okupe said that Tinubu wanted the Yoruba nation and indeed the people of Lagos State to believe that he was sincere in rendering public service.

He called on Nigerians to ignore 'the vituperation of the so-called leaders who don't see anything good in anyone or any programme except they are either in control   or that it is tailored to satisfy their inordinate desires and greed.

But  Tinubu  said  in a statement on Monday that his stance on the national conference   could not be changed by the Presidency's 'shadow boxing and presidential foul language.'

He described the Presidency as 'flip-flopping,' adding that   it had failed to address the salient issues he raised about the proposed  conference.

In the  statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Sunday Dare,   Tinubu said rather than deal with his questions, the Presidency only succeeded in reeling out fictional achievements.

The statement reads in part, 'As usual, rather than deal with the salient and substantial issues surrounding the proposed national conference raised,  the reaction from the Presidency skirted around them.

'In typical fashion, it resorted  to abusive language and name calling. Okupe, like a punch drunk pugilist, threw several empty jabs and went on a flight of fancy praising his boss and flaunting fictional  achievements of the administration in the face of Nigerians.'

Tinubu, who challenged the Presidency to provide answers to his  'searching questions', added that Nigerians, who would 'not be able to relate to all the fictional transformational achievements reeled out by the Presidency', would be the ones  to judge.

He said,  We urge Jonathan and his cry babies to take time to read through the statement and address the cloud of doubts surrounding the proposed  conference.

'This is a  flip-flopping  Presidency  that needs to   provide answers to the  questions raised.  It must know that no amount of shadow boxing and Presidential foul language can change that.

'While we would not mind such a person to be a leading figure in our Nollywood film industry, I am frightened that he is the Chief Resident of Aso Villa and surrounded by a cast of like minds.'