Presidency on Tuesday, November 26, said Former President Goodluck Jonathan was not blackmailed to trade off the November 16 governorship poll in Bayelsa State.
The presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, who disclosed this said the allegation by former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido that Jonathan traded off Bayelsa is “false and irresponsible.’’
Shehu said: “It just doesn’t make any sense. people who make wild allegations during interviews should be made to produce the facts backing their claims by editors.
READ ALSO: Men Too! Senate passes bill recognizing Men as Rape Victims
“A newspaper can be sued for granting space to people who belch false allegations against individuals with no proof.”
Shehu added that the former president had been out of power for almost five years, without any previous allegations of government blackmail cropping up.
He also noted that there were more than enough reasons for the former president to work against his party in the just Bayelsa election, without interference by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Shehu said: “Anyone who has been following the politics of Bayelsa State should be aware of the sour relationship between Dr. Jonathan and the incumbent governor, Seriake Dickson.
“That’s more than enough reason for the former president to decide to work against his party, if indeed he did. We really must stop this habit of blaming President Buhari for everything, including issues that are not his business.”
Earlier, The Herald gathered that former President Goodluck Jonathan replied the former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, that alleged that he traded Bayelsa State election to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to escape being investigated over Malabu oil deal.
The Herald gathered that Jonathan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Ikechukwu Eze, yesterday, said Mr Lamido’s comment did not reflect the position of the statesman he was supposed to be.
The statement read: “We really do not know why Mr. Lamido, chose to speak like he did, especially with such hostility, contempt and lies against me, however, one thing is clear: In his anger and apparent bile-filled disposition, Mr. Lamido, an otherwise astute and erudite politician, obviously dropped the ball by electing not to speak responsibly like a statesman. “He actually came off the interview sounding like a sulking skunk, to whom logic or reason meant nothing.