Men arrested for tearing Patience Jonathan’s posters

The visit of the wife of President
Goodluck Jonathan, Mrs. Patience
Jonathan, to Edo State, was on
Saturday disrupted when some
men, suspected to be aggrieved
youths of the Peoples Democratic
Party, pulled down some banners
bearing the image of the First Lady,
at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium
in Benin, the state capital.
Mrs. Jonathan was in the state to
drum support from Edo women for
her husband’s re-election
campaign.
It was learnt that the men climbed
the fence where the banners were
placed and began to pull them
down as soon as it was time for the
First Lady to deliver her address.
Irked by what they termed to be an
attempt to mar the visit of the
President’s wife, some youths and
policemen dressed in branded T-
shirts, bearing the Transformation
Ambassadors of Nigeria logo,
accosted the men.
It was in the process of a brewing
brawl that some policemen, drafted
to the venue of the rally to provide
security, whisked them away in a
police vehicle.
The state Publicity Secretary of the
party, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, said he
had no doubt that the perpetrators
were sympathisers of the All
Progressives Congress.
He claimed that none of the youths
who had turned out for the event
would carry out the act, adding that
the party would investigate further.
Nehikhare said, “I am sure they
were APC people. No PDP youth will
be aggrieved to the extent of
pulling down the First Lady’s
posters; every PDP youths love the
First Lady.
“But I will investigate to find out
and let you know tomorrow
(Sunday).”
Speaking at the event, Mrs.
Jonathan insisted that her husband
would remain in office for another
term.
She was accompanied by national
and state leaders of the party.
Women, drawn from different
support groups across the state,
had turned out for the event as
early as 9am. They, however, began
to leave the stadium at about
1.30pm, when Mrs. Jonathan arrived
at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium
venue of the rally.
Unable to bear the scorching heat,
two women fainted but were later
revived by a medical team
provided by the party.
The President’s wife said the
presidency had been occupied for
eight years by other geopolitical
zones and asked why the South-
South should be denied the
opportunity.
She added that the Jonathan
administration had performed
creditably in various sectors such as
transport and education.
She said, “In Nigeria, I saw a train
last when I was very young; I was
still in the primary school. But
today, we can see the train is
moving.
“Everybody stayed there for eight
years. Now it is our turn; so, we
must complete our eight years
because God has ordained it. We
will complete our two tenures; we
will hand over.”
Mrs. Jonathan described the
postponed visit of the wife of the
APC presidential candidate, Mrs.
Aisha Buhari, earlier scheduled for
Saturday at the same venue, as a
plot by the opposition to foment
trouble.
She also challenged her critics, who
had accused her of corruption, even
when, according to her, no “budget
or constitutional right” was
accorded to the Office of the First
Lady.
“Tomorrow, they will say ‘Mrs.
Jonathan is corrupt.’ Through
where is she corrupt? I don’t have
any budget attached to my office.
Go and probe me and see whether
there is any budget attached to my
office. I don’t touch your money.
Whatever I have, I worked for it,”
she added.