The Presidency has denounced a memo purportedly showing a presidential directive to frustrate the move by opposition parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The directive had listed Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a target including his business interests just as it mentioned five governors who have recently become notorious for their staunch opposition to President Goodluck Jonathan to be placed under ‘24-hours surveillance.’
However, a statement from the office of the senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, said the document did not emanate from the presidency.
“No letter head in the presidency has the caption ‘Presidential Directive’ under the Coat of Arms, contrary to communication practice in the presidency.
“The said ‘directive’ does not contain a recipient whether an individual, group or officials; the unsigned document is riddled with serious grammatical errors that could definitely not have emanated from the office of the President of Nigeria and that the body of the document contains a number of inconsistencies and incongruities which every discerning person should be able to pick out.
“For example, items 5 and 6 in the 7- paragraph document does not contain any directive and are mere statements made by the dubious author,” he said.
“We wish to state unequivocally that the document published in the newspaper alleging that the presidency has issued directives to frustrate merger of some political parties, hound opposition leaders and increase price of petroleum products is a forgery and an amateurish one for that matter.”
