Commendations have followed President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive for the removal of #BringBackJonathan 2015 signs and banners around Abuja.
The presidency issued a statement on Wednesday, directing that the #BringBackJonathan 2015 signs and banners around Abuja ― which he and many Nigerians had found offensive and repugnant ― should be brought down immediately.
Later on Wednesday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) led the flow of commendations, describing the president’s action as “a good first step”.
However, the party held that Jonathan has already made a mockery of his administration by waiting for an international newspaper to prod him on the “insensitive act” before making the move.
“Had the US newspaper, Washington Post not written a stinging editorial skewing the Jonathan administration for appropriating the BringBackOurGirls hash tag for his re-election, the administration would have continued its brazenness without regards to the feelings of the parents of the girls or indeed the Nigerian people,” said Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC’s national publicity secretary in a statement released in London on Wednesday.
Mohammed said the “good first step” taken by the president must now be quickly followed by another directive to order the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) to immediately stop its rallies that have offended the sensibilities of Nigerians.
“The rallies insult Nigerians who are fervently praying for the unity of the nation in the face of the madness by the marauders,” Mohammed said. “The rallies offend the sensibilities of the families of our citizens who are being mowed down daily by Boko Haram. They must stop forthwith.”
Following the same pattern, Senator Ahmadu Ali, former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lauded Jonathan for the directive to remove the giant #BringBackJonathan 2015 signs and banners from all Abuja.
“The president’s opinion should be respected and I don’t see anything wrong with the directive that the signs should be removed,” Ali said.
In the same vein, the former Governor of Anambra, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, backed Jonathan on the directive, agreeing with Ali that the president reserved the right to ensure that his name is not used wrongly by any group.
“It is the president’s prerogative to ensure that his name is not used wrongly and as such he has the right to order the removal of such signs,” he said. “I support his order.”
