Says he’s not to be taken seriously
Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has lambasted the ex-governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, for claiming he had an agreement with northern Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors not to run in 2015 and challenged the former Niger State governor to name witnesses that witnessed the said agreement.
It will be recalled that Aliyu, while reacting to his suspension by the PDP in Chanchaga local government area of Niger, had said that the North would have lost out completely if Jonathan got reelected.
Aliyu, who was a one-time chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, was reported to have said that after northern governors supported Jonathan to complete the tenure of the Late President Umaru Musa YarAdua, the former president was still allowed to contest in 2011. He said PDP governors in the northern States opposed Jonathans bid for a second term because he reneged on their agreement not to seek another tenure.
But reacting in a statement on behalf of former president Jonathan, Reno Omokri, said there was no agreement whether oral or written between Jonathan and PDP northern governors.
Similarly, the former Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, has knocked off Babangida Aliyu’s statement, saying he was not part of those who worked against the former president. Reacting, Jang, in his statement titled: Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu lied, signed by his media consultant, Garba Clinton, denied being part of the northern governors, adding that he was not part of that meeting.
Jang, who is also a former chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, described Aliyus statement as an attempt to drag his reputation and that of other governors in the region into the mud and warned his counterpart to desist from making defamatory statements against him and other patriotic members of the PDP.
