WATCH YOUR TONGUES : Jonathan Warns Abati, Okupe, Asari Dokubo As the ruling party elders intensify efforts to douse the tension generated by the festering crisis, President Jonathan has warned his close aides to desist forthwith from attacking Nigerians under the guise of defending him. A Presidency source told ‘Vanguard’ last night that Jonathan took the decision to censor some of his aides, who he accused of stoking the crisis by vitriolic media assaults on prominent Nigerians since the crisis broke out. The source said that Jonathan was unhappy that the affected aides had made it almost impossible for the spirited efforts being made by elders and stakeholders to resolve the lingering crisis, to yield the expected results. It was learnt that almost all the key stakeholders, who had interacted with the President on how best to resolve the crisis, had heaped blames on his overzealous aides for not showing decorum and respect to Nigerians in the discharge of their duties. The source said: “It is true that some aides of the President had been personally warned by Jonathan not to engage in unnecessary media war with Nigerians in the name of defending him. In particular, those who consider themselves as ‘attack dogs’ for Jonathan have been called to order in order not to heat up the polity. “The President has asked the affected officers not to ‘put petrol’ on the current situation, which he and other key stakeholders are trying to resolve in the interest of the PDP and Nigeria,” the source said. It was gathered that the warning was responsible for reduction in the belligerence usually exhibited by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe and the President’s Political Adviser, Ahmed Gulak, in recent times. The two men have been notorious for taking the political opponents and perceived enemies of the President to the cleaners, earning flak from well meaning Nigerians in the process. While Okupe is said to have gone underground after being hit below the belt by an adversarial advertorial by the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, that he (Okupe) was the worst enemy of the President, Gulak is reported to have earned the wrath of the President after a loose remark at the PDP Post-Convention dinner that put his boss off. Gulak is said to have run into trouble with Jonathan when he described Vice President Namadi Sambo as the ‘most loyal and humble’ VP that Nigeria had ever produced. Apparently angered by the unexpected remark considered rather innocuous by Gulak, Jonathan stood up and asked his adviser whether he (the President) did not show enough loyalty and humility when he worked under the late Yar’Adua. Vanguard learnt that Jonathan was determined to make amends with some of the PDP governors and other key players, who had been forced by the crisis to set up a parallel camp with a view to stalling his re-election bid. The President, it was also learnt, was set to call some Niger Delta militants, who have been threatening fire and brimstone if he was not re-elected, to order so as not to give the impression that he was depending on ‘militias’ or outside forces in administering the country. One of the President’s supporters, Asari Dokubo, who was detained for over a year by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for waging a war against the country under the guise of Niger Delta struggle, on Monday issued a fresh threat against Nigerians who want to stop Jonathan’s re-election in 2015. The threat is said to have angered some well- meaning Nigerians, who are working assiduously to resolve the lingering PDP crisis, which has the potential of stopping Jonathan’s re-election, if not checkmated.
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 15:45:35 +0000