PRESIDENCY REPLIES APC, BE READY TO FACE CONSEQUENCES OF TREASON

The Presidency has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) that it
should be ready to face the consequences of treason.
This was made known in a statement signed by President Goodluck
Jonathan's Special Adviser, Reuben Abati.
The Statement read thus
"We have noted with utter disdain, the reckless and irresponsible
call by the APC on Sunday for the National Assembly to commence
impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan.

Ordinarily, we would not have dignified Alhaji Lai Mohammed's latest
vituperations in the service of his paymasters with a response, but we
thought it necessary to warn that the Federal Government will not
standby idly and let the nation be plunged into unnecessary crises and
political instability because of the desperation and apparent
readiness of the APC spokesman and his gang of power-seeking
desperadoes to sacrifice the well-being of the country on the altar of
their selfish personal ambitions.
The Presidency totally condemns the decision by Alhaji Mohammed and
his party to move further beyond the bounds of honourable and
acceptable political conduct with the senseless call for the
impeachment of a President who continues to sincerely devote himself
to the discharge of the sacred mandate freely given to him by
Nigerians.
The APC, which remains a minority party with doubtful credentials in
the National Assembly, knows fully well that its attempt to hector and
blackmail a Parliament dominated by loyal members of the President's
party, the PDP, into an impeachment process, will come to nothing.
But it has cavalierly embarked on this outrageous gambit, with scant
regard for peace, order, security and political stability in the
country, in furtherance of its dastardly and heinous strategy of
over-heating the polity and working to cause public disaffection
against the Jonathan Presidency with lies, false accusations and
unjustifiable indictments ahead of the 2015 general elections.
The emptiness and hollowness of the APC's call for President
Jonathan's impeachment will be obvious to all objective and discerning
Nigerians who read through the statement issued by Alhaji Mohammed
today. It was long on self-serving rhetoric and falsehoods, but lacked
a single clearly defined charge on the basis of which any plausible
impeachment proceedings against the President can be initiated.
All that the APC could offer in justification of its absurd and
hare-brained impeachment call was a rehash of its well-worn litany of
baseless accusations against the President, including some for which
culpability should be laid squarely at the doorsteps of its own
leaders and some of their new friends.
The Presidency also considers it utterly deplorable that the APC has,
in its Machiavellian desperation to seize control of the Federal
Government, recklessly assailed the integrity and honour of the
Nigerian Judiciary in a callous attempt to pre-empt the outcome of
the case legitimately brought against it by some of its new friends
by the PDP.
Alhaji Mohammed's unscrupulous effort to drag the nation's judiciary
into its murky political warfare and his readiness to intimidate and
blackmail members of the bench so as to secure a favourable outcome
for his party in the pending case clearly shows that nothing is beyond
the pale for him and the APC in pursuit of their quest for power.
The Jonathan Administration does not need Lai Mohammed or the APC to
remind it of its constitutional responsibility for the security and
well-being of Nigerians. The President will continue to do his utmost
best to achieve positive national transformation in all areas in spite
of efforts by the opposition to thwart or disparage the work of his
administration.
In this regard, we have noted the undisguised threat by the APC to
foster public insurrection against the Federal Government if pending
legal cases go against it. We urge Nigerians to take special note of
this boastful indication of an intention to resort to lawlessness.
The Presidency warns that the APC and any persons who make themselves
its willing tools for the breach of public order and safety will be
made to face the full sanctions of the law. Those who are threatening
fire and brimstone should be ready for consequences of treasonable
action.
The APC's false copy-cat allegation that 1, 000 snipers are being
trained by the Jonathan Administration clearly shows that they are now
in cahoots with some other elements who are bent on discrediting this
administration and inciting the public against it.
President Jonathan is running a people's government. He does not need
any snipers. His legitimacy comes from the people. Those who are
alleging the existence of snipers should step forward and provide the
evidence or shut up forever and go down in history as spineless
cowards, driven by sheer greed and indecency.
We dismiss the APC's call for the President's impeachment as
opportunistic, partisan and ill-motivated.
We call on patriots to make the necessary distinction between such
reckless violations of civic duty and the urgent need to protect the
integrity of the Nigerian nation against those who for selfish reasons
have declared their readiness to stop at nothing."