The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the presidency needs a refresher course in history if it is not aware that a leader has had cause to resign in the course of a war being fought by his country in order to change the course of the war.
In a statement on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party reminded the presidency that Neville Chamberlain resigned as British Prime Minister on May 10, 1940 after Adolf Hitler forced the allies to retreat from Norway.
”According to available information, Chamberlain led Britain through the first eight months of World War II but had to resign after the Allies were forced to retreat from Norway, because of his belief that a government supported by all parties was essential for the unity needed to defeat Adolf Hitler. The resignation paved the way for Winston Churchill who later became the hero of the War,” it said.
The APC was reacting to a statement on Thursday by the Presidency in which it claimed there was no part of the world where a president resigned during an ongoing war.
While responding to the demand by an APC leader, Bola Tinubu, that President Goodluck Jonathan should resign for failing to arrest the nation’s security challenges, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, in a statement, challenged the party to tell Nigerians where a president resigned during war time.
The opposition party said the call by Mr. Tinubu on Mr. Jonathan to resign in view of the widespread insecurity in the land and the fact that some parts of Nigeria were now under occupation by terrorists was neither extraordinary nor unprecedented.
It said, ”The call by one of our leaders is about taking responsibility. President Jonathan is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If under his watch Nigerian territories are being annexed progressively by insurgents, and all that he has demonstrated so far is sheer cluelessness and incompetence, it is time for him to take responsibility and quit in the national interest, to pave the way for a leader who can lead the country to victory.”
The APC said all the blame game and name calling by the presidency, targeted at the opposition, constitute a mere distraction.
It stated that the presidency was right to say that when terrorists attacked the US in September 2001, the leaders of the Democratic Party did not demand a resignation of President George Bush but rather rose in defence of the American nation to support the various measures taken by the president to defeat the Al-Qaeda terrorists.
The party said what the presidency forgot to say, however, was that Americans would not have rallied behind then Mr. Bush if he had been photographed snuggling with any sponsor of Al-Qaeda as Mr. Jonathan did with one of the alleged sponsors of Boko Haram in Chad.
It said Americans would not have rallied behind Mr. Bush if 9-11 had occurred not just once but twice or thrice, because it would have shown that the president is simply incompetent to lead.
The APC said, ”President Jonathan watched helplessly as Boko Haram moved from Sambisa Forest to take over a large chunk of territory in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states and proclaim a Caliphate. President Jonathan watched helplessly as Boko Haram abducted and took away almost 300 girls,holding most of them for over 200 days….still counting. His Administration is even mocking and harassing those who are campaigning for the release of the girls. No people in the world will give such a leader unconditional support.
”Therefore, even if no leader in history has ever resigned during war (even though we have now proved that is not correct), nothing prevents President Jonathan from becoming the first leader to do so. After all, never in the history of any nation has incompetence and cluelessness been exhibited by any leader, as President Jonathan has done, when the country is at war.”
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