YAR’ADUA’S RETURN A GRAND DECEIT – AKANDE

Yar’Adua’s return a grand deceit – Akande
From MODESTUS CHUKWULAKA, Abuja
Friday, February 26, 2010

National Chairman of the Action Congress (AC), Chief Bisi Akande, has dismissed Wednesday’s reported return of President Umaru Yar’Adua to the country as a grand design to deceive Nigerians, and warned that the attitude of impunity and lawlessness of the present administration would quicken the collapse of the country.

Akande said what happened on Wednesday morning was a continuation of the deception by those around the President and challenged any person who had set an eye on the president since his “alleged” return to come out and fault him.
Speaking in Abuja shortly after the public presentation of a book authored by former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Dr. Abel Guobadia, Akande described Yar’Adua as “a master in deceit,” while the country remained a rudderless state.

“Many miracles are happening in this country right now, and we don’t know who is ruling us. We must not allow miracles to continue to rule us. The attitude of impunity and lawlessness of this administration will quicken the collapse of the country,” he said.
Asked if the return of the president from his medical vacation would help in stabilizing the polity, the former Osun State governor retorted: “Are you sure he has come back? Have you seen him? Is the President back? Who has seen him?”

Reminded that the presidential spokesman had already issued a statement to the effect that Yar’Adua was back in the country after three months in Saudi Arabia, Akande said: “That’s how they have been deceiving us since he became President. He is a master in deceit. I don’t think that Yar’Adua is here in Nigeria. I believe Jonathan is now the Acting President. But those who are deceiving us will continue to deceive us, using the military to threaten us.”
Although he said Jonathan was in reality the Acting President, he expressed misgiving that he would be able to steer the country in the right direction for the reason that he belonged to the same Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Jonathan will not be capable; he is PDP. But what I am saying in reality is that Jonathan is the Acting President of Nigeria. These people who are using the military to threaten us are deceiving us that Yar’Adua is here. We must shun them. They are the ones destroying this country; we must shun them,” he said.
Earlier, Akande, like many others had paid glowing tribute to Guobadia who presided over INEC from 2000 to 2005. The book entitled: Reflections of a Nigerian Electoral Umpire, dwelled mainly on the author’s experience as the chairman of INEC and his views on the nation’s electoral system.

Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammed Uwais who chaired the presentation said Guobadia brought to INEC a wealth of experience no other chairman had brought to the office. “He was not a sit-tight chairman. He knew his tenure was only five years. He did not lobby for extension. At the end of five years, he wrote to the President, giving notice of his desire to disengage,” Uwais said.
A serving national commissioner of INEC, Mr. Philip Umeadi Jnr., also credited Guobadia with the introduction of technology in the electoral system as well as initiating electoral reforms. “The electronic voters’ register we met could have been enough for the conduct of any free and fair election in 2007,” he said.