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Re:
Jonathan voted four times in 2007
By Tony Iyare Newsdiaryonline Sun
Mar 6,2011
Our attention has been drawn to the above titled lead story of
the Next on Sunday published on Sunday, March 6, 2011,
which falsely alluded that the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams
Oshiomhole told some US diplomats in December 2008, that
President Goodluck Jonathan voted four times as Vice President
in the April 2007 election.
We are completely at a loss how the newspaper came to that
conclusion which is attributed to the highly controversial
whistleblower site, Wikileaks and said to have been made
exclusively to it. We wish to say that at no time did the
governor ever made such a weighty allegation against President
Goodluck Jonathan.
It is obvious that there was a clear mix-up in the story as the
person in reference is the former Military Vice President,
Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, whose name was tendered in court as
haven voted four times during the epic case to regain the
mandate popularly given to Oshiomhole by the Edo people and not
President Goodluck Jonathan.
In addition, what was tendered in court was the electoral
register bearing the names of voters in Edo State which had
nothing to do with Jonathan who voted in Bayelsa.
Why we still ponder over the import of the strange linkage to
the President, we are particularly moved not to suspect that the
newspaper is opening its flanks to the whims of mischief makers
or some unscrupulous elements who deliberately wish to drive a
wedge between Jonathan and Oshiomhole.
We wish to place on record that there was no where either in the
tendered court documents or the brief with the US diplomats
where President Jonathan’s name featured as haven voted four
times. We want to plead that the media should endeavour to
verify its facts painstakingly before going to press in order to
avoid causing unnecessary disaffection.
Tony Iyare ,Special
Adviser, Media Affairs to Edo State Governor.
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