WIFE of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, has
said that the refusal of senior officials of the Rivers
State Government to pay her a condolence visit when
she lost her foster mother was the reason why she
shunned the state Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru,
at the Port Harcourt airport.
She said despite the fact that several groups and
individuals from across the country came to
commiserate with her, she did not receive any
delegation from Rivers State.
Mrs. Jonathan said this in a statement by her
spokesman, Mrs. Ayo Adesugba.
She was reacting to media reports that she snubbed
Ikuru, when she arrived at the Port Harcourt airport
on Sunday.
The President's wife said she decided to make her
visit to the state as quiet as possible so as not to give
room for those who she described as mischief makers
to succeed in their plans of involving her in the
political intrigues in the state.
She said since the wife of the state governor
ordinarily receives her whenever she visits any state,
that was why the wife of Bayelsa State governor came
to Port Harcourt from Yenagoa to receive her.
The statement read, "Our attention has been drawn
to reports in some media claiming that the First
Lady, Dame (Dr.) Patience Goodluck Jonathan
snubbed the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, who
was said to have gone to the Port Harcourt
International Airport to receive her.
"The reports, by all indications, represent a contrived
motive of some gladiators in the Rivers State crisis to
continue to paint the First Lady as an aggressor.
"It should be clear to all that for quite some time
now, the First Lady has refrained from commenting
on issues relating to the Rivers State crisis while
these gladiators have continued to use every media at
their disposal to fan the embers of disharmony and
hatred.
"It is for this reason of the intrigue at play that the
First Lady would want to be left out of Rivers State
crisis, hence making her visit to the state as quiet as
possible, so as not to give room for mischief makers
to succeed in their plans.
"Ordinarily, the wife of the state governor receives
the first lady whenever she visits any state. That is
why the wife of Bayelsa State Governor travelled from
Yenagoa to receive the First Lady."
"In addition, as a daughter of Rivers state, the First
Lady is free to visit the state any time she desires.
But we are forced to ask: why the presence of the
First Lady in Rivers State always generate rumpus?
"It should be noted that while several groups and
individuals from across the country came to condole
the First Lady and Mr. President on the death of her
mother, no official of Rivers State government
deemed it fit to pay the first family condolence visit,
yet they claimed the First Lady is a daughter of
Rivers State.
"He who must go to equity must go with clean hands.
They should learn to give respect to those who
deserve respect so that they too can earn respect."
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