The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, reacted to a misrepresentation of a statement credited to him on some social media portals.
A press release by the Head, Media and Communications of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, noted that in the said report, it was insinuated through the headline that the outgoing Presidential Adviser said: “I’ll leave with Jonathan rather than work with Buhari.”
“Curiously, there was no quote in the body of the report to corroborate the headline.
Clearly, what Hon. Kuku said was twisted out of context for purposes that can be adduced to mischief and unprofessionalism on the part of those behind it.
For purposes of clarity, the presidential aide never said or insinuated that he would not work with the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari.
Rather what he said in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, which has been taken out of context, was: “The chairman wishes to disappoint (those plotting against him) as he is not interested in continuing in that office, more so as his boss, President Jonathan, is leaving office on May 29, 2015. As the President is returning to Otuoke in Bayelsa State, Kuku is also going back to Arogbo, his Ijaw community in Ondo State.”
According to his media aide,Kuku considers his several appointments whether at the local, state or federal level as a call to national service, to which he has given his all for over a decade.
“It is therefore a statement of fact that with end of the tenure of his appointor, President Goodluck Jonathan, on May 29, 2015, Kuku had no legal basis to remain in office. This is in conformity with his letter of appointment. It is not about the individual but the office he occupies.
“This does not also translate to Hon. Kuku rejecting a call to national service under a new administration as being insinuated. The intention is to portray him as being confrontational and hostile towards the incoming government.
“Hon. Kuku believes those behind such a portrayal are elements in the Niger Delta, who would stop at nothing to fly political kites in order to discredit him and his meritorious service to the country as chairman of the Amnesty Programme. Such persons do not mean well for General Buhari and his administration.
“The outgoing presidential adviser, therefore, wishes to make it clear that he is ready to serve the country in whatever capacity he is deemed fit whenever he is called upon. His firm promise is to continue to ensure the sustenance of peace and security in the Niger Delta in and out of office just as he continues to support and pray for the success of the Buhari administration.”
