Dame
Patience Jonathan, Tuesday, denied claims that she was planning ways of
preventing Hajiha Aisha Buhari, the wife of the President-elect, from replacing
her as President of the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM).
This was
made known in statement by the Office of the First Lady Federal Republic of
Nigeria were she declared that hosting of the 8th AFLPM Summit slated for the
15th of May in Abuja was not intended to prevent Aisha Buhari from taking
over from her.
Rather
that AFLPM jointly agreed to hold the 8th Summit after the Nigeria
general elections and with the understanding that if her husband did not
succeed in his re-election bid, she would convene the summit in May 2015, to
enable the election of a new President and ensure a smooth handover since her
tenure has ended.
She said
further that it is mischievous for anyone to scheme to cause disaffection
between her and and Hajia Aisha Buhari.
Aisha
Buhari and Patience Jonathan
The
statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to various newspapers and social
media reports alleging that Nigeria hosting of 8th Summit of the African First
Ladies Peace Mission Summit on May 15, 2015 is a grand design by the First
Lady, Dame (Dr) Patience Faka Jonathan to either “rig out” or “deny” the
in-coming First Lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari the opportunity to assume the
Presidency and host the said summit in the absence of the incumbent.
“We would
have ignored this barrage of uncharitable fallacies, but for the fact that the
mischief makers have not relented in their efforts to deceive the unsuspecting
members of the public with lies and half truth, hence this clarification to set
the record straight.
“It would
be recalled that Nigeria’s Hajia Turai Yar’Adua was elected President of the
African First Ladies Peace Mission during the 6th Summit in February 2008 in
Congo Brazzaville for a term of two years.
“Her
tenure ought to have come to an end in 2010 when she should have organized a
Summit to elect a successor and hand over accordingly. The unfortunate incident
that led to her sudden exit from office is well known and need not be mentioned
here,”
“This
inability of the former President to officially hand over created a leadership
vacuum in the African First Ladies Peace Mission for some time until Her
Excellency, Dame Patience Jonathan was prevailed upon by her colleagues, the
African First Ladies to convene the Summit in July 2012 at which she was
subsequently elected President to serve for two years.
“For the
avoidance of doubt, according to its internal regulation, the tenure of office
of President of African First Ladies Peace Mission is for a period of two years
only. This therefore implies that the tenure of office of the incumbent
President ought to have ended in 2014, when a fresh election should have held
for a new Executive.
“However,
at the 3rd Executive Bureau meeting of the AFLPM in Pretoria, South Africa in
2014, Her Excellency, Dame Patience Jonathan drew the attention of members to
the then forthcoming election in Nigeria, which preparation would not enable
her host the summit to facilitate the election of new Executives and a handover.
“She
therefore proposed that the 8th Summit holds after the Nigeria general
elections and it was accordingly agreed that the Summit would hold in July in
Abuja with the understanding that if her husband did not succeed in his
re-election bid, she would convene the summit in May 2015, to enable the
election of a new President and ensure a smooth handover since her tenure has
ended.
She said
that the emergency Summit is to forestall a misunderstanding that Nigeria
intentionally plans to remain in office as President, a position it has held
for the past 7 years instead of two year tenure.
“Arising
from the above, it is therefore clear that this is not a personal matter nor a
specifically a Nigeria sole affair but a continental platform governed by its
own rules and protocols just as similar International Organizations.
“It would
therefore be out of place for anyone to insinuate that it is intended to shut
out the in-coming First Lady. This cannot be father from the truth.
“We state
therefore without any iota of equivocation that it is mischievous for anyone to
scheme to cause disaffection between the out-going and in-coming First Ladies,
Dame Patience Jonathan and Hajia Aisha Buhari.
“Let us
therefore come together in our tradition of hospitality to heartily welcome our
guests, the African First Ladies as they arrive Abuja for the 8th Summit of the
Mission.
“Let us
always remember that the personal ambition of anybody is not worth destroying
the image of the nation. It is about Nigeria not about Dame Patience Jonathan,”
Vanguard
reports.
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