by Godwin Akanfe

Contrary to claims by the All Progressives Congress, that the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), is fuelled by President Goodluck Jonathan, the pro-Jonathan group has come out to state that it will not be deterred by mere claims without evidence.

Lai Mohammed, the APC spokesman had yesterday described the president’s refusal to stop TAN’s rallies, as an evidence that he was behind the organisation. He also said the fact that the rallies were being coordinated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, ministers, governors and other public office holders in Jonathan’s administration, showed that TAN had the president’s support.

In an official reaction, TAN, spokesman, Udenta O. Udenta, said neither the federal government nor any of its ministries departments or agencies fund its programmes and projects.

“We are yet to see just one counter electronic media programming attacking our well-researched documentation of developments occurring in different national sectors in the past three and half years, or just one OP-ED refuting the veracity of our presentations.

“What is served us daily from Lai Mohammed’s Verkhovenskian imagination is the torrent of well rehearsed falsehood, empty political prattle, pompous self-enfoolment dressed up as political fact, self-righteous indignation that bothers on pious cant and excess of bellicosity demeaning of a democrat.

“As we await just one deconstructive reading of TAN by the APC we will resign ourselves, as Nigerians have already done, to Mohammed’s stale mythologies of politics and power and gross ritualisation of inconsequential political fables which have no bearing to truth.”

On the funding of TAN’s activities, Udenta said; “The fact remains that TAN has neither sought nor received a kobo from the federal government, all its ministries, agencies or department, in executing its programmes and projects.

“Anybody who has evidence to the contrary should present same to the public or shut up for good. But for those who are set on an inexorable course of political perdition through the irrational criminalisation of opinions, perspectives and viewpoints that counter theirs they earn, not our condemnation nor even contempt; they earn our sympathy given the surreal cloud of ethical infamy that envelops the political spaces the dwell in.”

According Udenta, “the Minna rally generated 1.625 million signatures from supporters urging the president to contest the 2015 Presidential Election. There are also the 1.6 million signatures from the Awka rally, the 1.8 million signatures from the Ibadan rally and the 4.1 million signatures from the Port Harcourt rally, making it a total of 8.625 million verifiable data from Nigerians asking and supporting the president to contest.

The group revealed that it had plans for two other rallies in Gombe State for the North-east on September 20, and Kano for the North-west rally slated on September 27 and the grand finale rally slated for September 30.

Udenta said the group had generated over 400,000 supporters for the President from the Facebook.

Emmanuel Chidiogo