The Presidency has reacted to a statement credited to Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, in which he lampooned the present administration for condoning impunity in the country and likened President Goodluck Jonathan to the biblical King Nebuchadnezzar.
The Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the President, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who reacted to the statement, described Professor Soyinka’s allegations as sad and unfortunate.
The Presidency said it had observed how the close relationship between the Nobel Laureate and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has affected his usually cerebral contributions to national discourse.
“Our eminent professor also sadly plays the ostrich as he failed to reprimand Governor Amaechi, who is the ‘national champion of impunity and official recklessness’. The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan prides itself as the most liberal, keeping faith with adherence to rule of law and tolerance”, Dr. Okupe further said.
The presidential aide also stressed that it was interesting that Soyinka had chosen to ignore what he termed the immoral, indefensible and unlawful attitude of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, after his defection.
Dr. Okupe then accused Professor Soyinka of maligning the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, who he said only discharged his lawful duties.
Prof. Soyinka had while speaking at a press conference in Lagos yesterday, commended members of the House of Representatives for scaling over the National Assembly gate, while reserving knocks for the Nigeria Police for its action.
He said: “I don’t understand why some media have described their action as a show of shame – this is a very careless, easily misapplied designation. The act of scaling gates and walls to fulfill their duty to the people must be set down as their finest hour. They must be applauded, not derided.
“If shame belongs anywhere, it belongs to the Inspector General of Police and his slavish adherence to conspiratorial, illegal, and unconstitutional instructions – to undermine a democratic structure, and one – to make matters worse – convoked in response to an emergency of dire public concern”.
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