Mu'azu, Others Misleading Jonathan, Says Edwin Clark

A former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has accused the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, of misinforming President Goodluck Jonathan on issues relating to the party.

Clark was particularly unhappy with Mu'azu, who he alleged of imposing a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] , Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, as the PDP governorship candidate in Adamawa State.

He said Mu'azu misinformed the President on the alleged popularity of the former chairman of the anti-graft commission.

Speaking while hosting members of the Northern Youth Vanguard at his residence in Abuja on Saturday, the Ijaw leader said that he was also surprised when Ribadu visited him with an owner of a television and radio stations from the South-South (names withheld), asking for his (Clark’s) support.

He said, "Mu’azu and some people are misleading the President in the PDP. He imposed Ribadu on the people of Adamawa, saying he’s popular.

"Two weeks ago, Ribadu came here with some people (names withheld) asking for my support. This is the same Ribadu that was arresting people indiscriminately when he was the chairman of the EFCC without following the due process. He was given a list with which to work with.

"There is no justice. Those who parade themselves on newspapers are anti-PDP. Majority of them are working against the party and the President."

Clark called on youths in the country to deny old men the opportunity to rule the country by voting for young and educated candidates in next month's general elections.

He particularly urged them not to vote for 73-year-old presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who he said was "close to his departure lounge."

He said, "My sons and my daughters, I have gone to this very length to show you that the man called Buhari, you do not know him. You are knowing him at the age of 73. Why should they be supporting him when he wants to sleep?

"Can the man stand firmly? I will be surprised that those who are catapulting him will not say, ‘ah, is this another game?

"Anyone of us can go any time but Nigeria requires young men, young governors whose hands are not soiled.

"This is your country, we are building it for you. If you want to spoil it, spoil it. But for people like us who are waiting for boarding pass to rule the country for you, you will be in trouble."

Clark recalled that as a member of the recently-concluded National Conference, he had observed that those of them from 70 years and above, "were at the departure lounge waiting for boarding pass. But when I got there, they couldn’t give me my boarding pass.

"God said, 'you have not finished your job, you are one of those who added to the damage in this country. Go and repair it.' So, they refused me boarding pass."

He advised the youths to "Guard jealously your age. This is your time. Don’t allow a 73-year-old man who should be getting his boarding pass to leave, to rule you."

The former Federal Commissioner for Information also knocked some persons who he described as "fish out of the water if they are not ruling."

On insecurity, Clark observed that people deliberately engineered the Boko Haram crisis to discredit President Goodluck Jonathan and later use it to campaign against him.

Speaking earlier, the leader of Northern Youth Vanguard, Mr. Hameed Olanipekun, had told Clark that they supported the continuity of President Jonathan in office, saying that they would not allow themselves to be deceived.

While noting several programmes initiated by the administration such as YouWIN that were youth-friendly, the group said it had mapped out a strategy for each member of the vanguard to convince 50 persons to vote for Jonathan at next month’s presidential election.