GEJ Is Still My Son -
Edwin Clark Blasts Reuben Abati
Edwin Clark, a former federal
commissioner for information, has accused Reuben Abati, of not promoting the image
and achievements of former President Goodluck Jonathan during his
administration.
Clark, in an email to Premium Times on Thursday,
October 29, said Abati, the special adviser to the former President on media
and publicity, ignored his advice that a publicity committee made up of eminent
journalists be put in place in Aso Rock.
The former commissioner was reacting Abati’s claims
that he no longer considered Jonathan his ‘son’, and that he was only making
the disparaging remarks because Jonathan had lost the 2015 election.
Abati wrote an opinion article
titled, “Clark the Father, Jonathan the Son” saying: “Who would ever
think Chief E.K. Clark would publicly disown President Jonathan? He says
Jonathan was a weak president. At what point did he come to that realisation?
“Yet, throughout the five years, he spoke loudly
against anyone who opposed the president.”
The former special adviser wrote the article after
Clark said Jonathan did not have the political will to fight corruption.
Responding to Abati’s claims, the elder statesman
stated that he did not single out Jonathan on his comments about the inability
of Nigerian leaders to fight corruption since the return to democracy in 1999.
He said his comments about corruption were based on
the fact that “it has been the reason for the neglect of the ordinary man in
Nigeria by all governments.”
Clark noted that he still sees Jonathan as his
political son, adding that he could not understand why he came under attack
over his comments.
He said: “Reuben Abati has risen to the defence of
his last employer too late. He owes the former President apologies for his
(Reuben Abati) failure to perform while in office. I should not be used as a
scapegoat. I love Goodluck Jonathan and Goodluck Jonathan loves me.”
“I do not recall any favourable remark made by Abati
all those years when he was the chairman of the Editorial Board (of the
Guardian) and syndicated columnist about the former president, His Excellency,
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan. If I
recall correctly, they were always the butt of ridicule by Dr. Reuben Abati.
“These vitriolic attacks on former President Jonathan
and his wife only stopped when he was appointed the Special Adviser on Media
and Publicity by the former president.
“I do not know
the background of Dr. Abati but for him to lie and devilishly imagine that I
should have remained a PDP card carrying member if President Jonathan had won
the election is satanic.”
According to him, he remained proud of the Jonathan’s
performance in areas such as railway system, economy, education, fight against
polio and ebola, maternal health, the power sector, and others.
“He brought transparency into the electoral process
– when people could vote and the votes actually openly counted without
violence. Today he stands as the first African president to concede an election
to an opponent, even before the final counts,” Clark said.
The elder statesman said he only supported Jonathan not
only as his son but also as the first person to emerge from the minorities of
the Niger Delta as the president and he has no regret of doing so.
He noted that the story would have been different
today if Jonathan’s close associates and political leaders had promoted all his
achievements, rather than the pretence and betrayal they were engaged in.
Some days back, Clark, in a
lengthy letter out his mind, saying he had known Jonathan before he became the
president and he didn’t at any time gain anything from being close to the former
president.
In reaction, a group in Delta state, the Ijaw Justice Forum (IJF), on Wednesday,
October 28, criticised him saying, it was wicked and
mischievous for Clark to say that he did not get anything from the Jonathan-led
administration.
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