The Presidency has expressed shock over the alleged gift received by President Goodluck Jonathan by a foreign contractor and has termed as laughable the call for the impeachment of the President. This view was expressed in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati.
“It is with surprise and some amusement, the patently laughable attempt by political opponents of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and their collaborators to brew up a storm in a cup over the alleged “gift” of a church to the President”.
The statement also called on Nigerians to discard the allegations as they are spurious as well as political “It should be clear to all knowledgeable and discerning Nigerians that these allegations are nothing other than another mischievous attempt to denigrate President Jonathan, cast unjustifiable aspersions on his personal integrity and distract him from the serious business of governance.
“For the benefit of the unwary who might be taken in by the antics of an unscrupulous opposition that has little or no regard for the truth in the pursuit of their self-serving agenda, the Presidency wishes to state emphatically that President Jonathan never solicited or received a church as “bribe” from any contractor”.
The presidency said the contractor as a matter of corporate social responsibility (CSR) renovated the house of worship “Yes, a contractor who has worked and continues to work in Bayelsa state and other parts of Nigeria thought it fit, in fulfillment of its corporate social responsibility, to facilitate the renovation of the small church in the President’s home town of Otuoke”.
The presidency also claimed the act was not new in the history of the country and it takes a lot of desperation to translate this act of social responsibility for which there are innumerable precedents in our country into a crime for which the usual suspects are now calling for the “impeachment” of President Jonathan.
The statement further said “It is indeed ironic that the groups and individuals now castigating the President because a company freely chose to fulfill its corporate social responsibility by helping to renovate a communal place of worship, are also amongst those who constantly berate companies doing business in the Niger Delta for not doing enough to support the development of their host communities”.
The statement went ahead to state a precedent where a gift was donated to community without anybody raising dust over the incident. He also said reminded the ACN that the church is not a property of the president and neither does it belong to his family “Examples of such corporate assistance to communities, cities and states abound across Nigeria. The President’s accusers are certainly not unaware of the fact that the famous Millennium Park in Abuja was donated to the city by a construction company, but we do not recall that anyone was ever accused of receiving the park or other similar communal projects as a bribe”.
“For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, the renovated church in Otuoke does not belong to President Jonathan or his family. The Church belongs to the Anglican Communion and the entire Otuoke Community. It has existed for generations and is not a new church “donated” to President Jonathan by his “contractor friend” as is being mischievously alleged”.
President Jonathan has not committed any crime or violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers by being present at the dedication of the very humble community church building and publicly acknowledging the assistance of a corporate entity in its renovation, the statement also said.
The presidency however called on the opposition to constructively criticize rather than creating phantom tigers in the neighborhood “Those peddling allegations to the contrary know very well that their charges are baseless and unsustainable. If they must oppose for the sake of opposition, let them desist from peddling patent falsehoods and make a greater effort to be a responsible opposition by offering intelligent and constructive criticism”.
