President Goodluck Jonathan has demanded an apology and a retraction from Next Newspaper, that reported he voted four times in the 2007 general elections.
Next newspaper reported that Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole told some US diplomats in December 2008 that Goodluck Jonathan voted four times as Vice President in the April 2007 election. This report was published yesterday Sunday March 6th. Adams Oshiomhole has since denied making such comments.
Goodluck Jonathan is mad as hell and has hreatened to go to court to seek redress if the apology and retraction isn't done asap.
Press Release
Re: Jonathan voted four times in 2007
Our attention has been drawn to the above titled lead story of the Next on Sunday published on Sunday, March 6, 2011, which falsely alluded that the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole told some US diplomats in December 2008, that President Goodluck Jonathan voted four times as Vice President in the April 2007 election.
We are completely at a loss how the newspaper came to that conclusion which is attributed to the highly controversial whistleblower site,Wikileaks and said to have been made exclusively to it. We wish to say that at no time did the governor ever made such a weighty allegation against President Goodluck Jonathan. It is obvious that there was a clear mix-up in the story as the person in reference is the former Military Vice President, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, whose name was tendered in court as haven voted four times during the epic case to regain the mandate popularly given to Oshiomhole by the Edo people and not President Goodluck Jonathan.
In addition, what was tendered in court was the electoral register bearing the names of voters in Edo State which had nothing to do with Jonathan who voted in Bayelsa.
Why we still ponder over the import of the strange linkage to the President, we are particularly moved not to suspect that the newspaper is opening its flanks to the whims of mischief makers or some unscrupulous elements who deliberately wish to drive a wedge between Jonathan and Oshiomhole.
We wish to place on record that there was no where either in the tendered court documents or the brief with the US diplomats where President Jonathan’s name featured as haven voted four times. We want to plead that the media should endeavour to verify its facts painstakingly before going to press in order to avoid causing unnecessary disaffection.
Tony Iyare
Special Adviser,
Media Affairs to Edo State Governor.
Sunday, March 6, 2011.
Read the controversial Next newspaper report here
