A former PDP gubernatorial aspirant in
Plateau State, Barrister Omar Shittien,
has
condemned the Minister of State for
Information and Communications, Mr. Labaran
Maku, for raising thespectreof violent
crisis in the country if
PresidentGoodluckJonathan
is not elected in 2011.
Reacting to the comment in a press statement
in Abuja, Barrister Shittien said
it
is most unfortunate that a serving cabinet
minister would threaten his country with
crisis if his boss is not elected President
next year.
He said the tone of Maku’s agenda suggests
that he and his masters are desperate and
don’t care in the least what befall the
country if they cannot realize their
ambition. “It is unfortunate that at a time
well-meaning Nigerians are making genuine
efforts to defuse political tension arising
from the debate over zoning, Labaran threw
caution to the wind by threatening Nigerians
with crisis,” the former
gubernatorial
aspirant said.
According to the lawyer, Nigeria is bigger
than any individual and, therefore,
nobody
should expect the country to go down with
him if he doesn’t get what he wants. The
Plateau politician accused the Jonathan camp
of hypocrisy over the need to reduce
tension. He recalled that when a former
Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Lawal Kaita
threatened to make Nigeria ungovernable over
zoning, Jonathan’s
supporters
instantly called for his immediate arrest
and he was eventually invited by the State
Security Services (SSS).
He said while Kaita is a private citizen,
Maku is a cabinet minister in Jonathan’s
government, but nobody has called for his
head.Shittien called on Maku to disclose the
nature of the crisis they are planning to
unleash on the country if they cannot have
their way in 2011.
He noted that a reckless comment by a
cabinet minister that threatens national
security could have cost him his job in
other civilized democracies of the world.He
said Maku’s ominous comments have vindicated
a former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. John
Campbell who fears that President Jonathan’s
2011 ambition is fraught with dangers for
Nigeria’s unity.
Barr. Omar Shittien
Jos
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