Governor Lamido, Please Respect Your Person And Office—Dr. Umar Ardo
The attention of the Adamawa State PDP's Stakeholders and Elders Forum has been drawn to a news report credited to the Jigawa State Governor, Alh. Sule Lamido, impugning on the person and personality of our revered Professor Jibril Aminu. While we recognize and respect the right of Governor Lamido to defend his name against any attack, we however expect that any such defense should be within decorum and civilized democratic norms.
But for the deliberate distortion of facts, mischievous insinuations and outright barefaced lies in a desperate attempt to mislead the good people of this county to see him for what he is not as cooked up in that news report, we would not have bothered to put up this response. But, as it is, our forum is obliged to straighten the facts because we believe that the courage to say the truth and live by it, and indeed to be just and fair in utterances and dealings, are not only the hallmarks of a civilized society but also the only guarantee to advance our democratization process and create harmonious co-existence amongst our people.
Prof. Aminu's statement, which is shared by majority of members of our forum, simply posits that the locus of the G7 Governors in their fight against the PDP is personal and selfish, and not for the sake of the country or for the advancement of our democratic principles. One would naturally have thought that if Gov. Lamido felt slighted by this assertion and wanted to refute it, he would have shown evidentially how their struggle was for the cause of the nation's democracy and not for selfish end as asserted. Instead of doing that the Governor just went into throwing invectives and assaults against the person of the revered Professor.
Without wanting to joint issues with him, we would like to state categorically that everything Governor Lamido stated in his Press Release was a lie aimed at disparaging the unassailable reputation of Prof. Aminu and conversely creating a false political image of himself. Prof. Aminu needs not to ride on the back of the G7 Governors to gain political relevance. Prof. Aminu has always been and shall always remain relevant both nationally and internationally. His impeccable academic and public service records have assured this.
Unlike the Governor, Prof. Aminu is not a political thug who needs to employ thuggish method of dancing naked in public, like the one exhibited at the Eagles Square, venue of the Mini Convention, where the so-called aggrieved members of the PDP stormed out to form a parallel faction now known as the 'new PDP', to gain national relevance.
Such disregard for decency and decorum, if unchecked, can become the hallmark of the party thereby threatening the continuous existence of the party and the polity. Again, unlike the Governor, Prof. Aminu as a founding member of the party, cannot sit by and allow the party to be destroyed by any person, no matter how highly placed.
The subversion of democratic principles to the whims and caprices of governors is fast becoming the norm in the PDP. The job of taking Nigeria out of the abyss unto the path of true democracy and prosperity cannot be a reality if we continue to entrust into the hands of such mendacious, unrepentant and rapacious politicians, donning the garb of democrats as represented by likes of some members of the G7. Such negative politics that elevates party chaos over governance as currently being exhibited by the G7 Governors must henceforth be put to the backburner.
Governor Lamido should therefore respect his person and office and spare Professor Jibril Aminu of his long acclaimed trend of disrespect, hooliganism and thuggery to elders and political leaders. It may have paid him handsomely so far, but he should not push his luck any further. A situation where someone who is in court trying to prove he did not forge a grade 2 certificate to contest election disparaging a world acclaimed Professor of Medicine does not say well of us as a people.