The Presidency, obviously is not comfortable with condemnations from the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the recent peace rally by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, in conjunction with the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS).
The rally, held in Abuja, on Thursday, August 15, was used to acknowledge the role of women in peace initiatives of government and also to celebrate attainment of high positions in government by women.
But presidency, not satisfied with the condemnation, noted that instead of celebrating with the women, the interim national publicity secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, not only dampened the mood of the women with the insinuation that there is nothing to celebrate but went on to accuse the first lady of starting an early campaign for the 2015 presidential elections.
Godwin Akpovie, Special Assistant, Political, in the office of the Political Adviser to the President, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, who condemned the APC in a statement circulated via email to newsmen, invited citizens to examine what the party considered a “shameful show of the First Lady.”
“According to Mohammed, it is ‘shameful’ for Mr President to have fulfilled the 35 per cent representation in his cabinet he promised the women during his 2011 electioneering campaign. The 13 women ministers in the 42-man cabinet are holding sensitive ministries like finance, petroleum, aviation, information communication technology, defence, power, foreign affairs, among others.
“To Lai, it is ‘shameful’ for the women to celebrate the elevation of one of them as head of the judiciary arm of government and the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) by President Goodluck Jonathan and approved by the Senate. It is ‘shameful’ for the women to celebrate the unprecedented appointments of women permanent secretaries both at the federal and state levels.
“Talking about the early campaign for 2015, can Lai Mohammed extract any political statement uttered by the First Lady at the rally? As everybody knows by now, the First Lady used the occasion to call on the legislature to insert in the Nigerian Constitution the 35 per cent affirmative action for women which will then compel any administration to adhere to this provision and free the women from the discretion, pleasure or otherwise of successive presidents. Would that not be a lasting legacy if passed by the National Assembly? That is what he calls campaigning and wants the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to sanction the First Lady for.”
“If there is any group that should be sanctioned, it is Lai Mohammed and his party because they have refused to stop campaigning since the end of the 2011 elections.
“The defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and other parties that formed the APC tried to hoodwink Nigerians by staging rallies round the whole country in the name of a so-called consultation on merger.”
