LAGOS AUGUST 20th (URHOBOTODAY)-First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan Monday night dismissed media hype by Rivers State government that she snubbed the state’s Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, who came to welcome her on arrival at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Sunday.
Mrs Jonathan, who is on a private visit to her home state apparently to make arrangements for the burial of her late mother, Charity Oba, also expressed displeasure that Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State and his wife have not deemed it fit to condole with her.
According to Mrs Jonathan who spoke in a statement by the Director of information in the Office of the First Lady, Ayo Adesugba, “It should be noted that while several groups and individuals from across the country came to condole the First Lady and Mr. President on the death of her mother, no official of Rivers State government deemed it fit to pay the first family condolence visit, yet they claimed the first lady is a daughter of Rivers state”.
The statement added that Mrs. Amaechi refused to welcome her at the airport in line with protocol, even when the wife of the Bayelsa State Governor had to travel all the way from Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, to welcome her.
Mrs. Jonathan believes that the indifference of the Rivers State governor and his wife to her mother’s death was as a result of the politics of the state, saying she should be left out of the political division that is tearing the state apart.
The statement read in part, “The attention of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has been drawn to reports carried in some sections of the media alleging that top officials of the Rivers government, including the Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru who came to receive the First Lady, were shielded from Dame Jonathan on her arrival at Port Harcourt International Airport yesterday (Sunday August 18). Some of the media reports went to the extent of alleging that Dame Jonathan “snubbed” the Deputy Governor.
“It is important to set the record straight in order to prevent the public from being misled. The First Lady arrived in Rivers State yesterday for a private visit, to make arrangements for the burial of her late mother with members of her extended family.
“Ordinarily, the wife of the state governor receives the First Lady whenever she visits any state. That is why the wife of Bayelsa State Governor traveled from Yenagoa to receive the First Lady.
“In addition, as a daughter Rivers State, the First Lady is free to visit the state any time she desires. But we are forced to ask: why the presence of the First Lady in Rivers State always generate rumpus?” “He who must go to equity must go with clean hands. They should learn to give respect to those who deserve respect so that they too can earn respect,” she concluded.
Source: Thewill