Date Published: 02/09/10

Akunyili threatens to sue Aondoakaa

Dora Akunyili

The Minister for Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili has given the Minister

of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mike Kaase Aondoakaa,  seven days to refute the statement credited to him in The Nations Newspaper where he asked Akunyili to “… go confront herself with what happened in NAFDAC”, or face prosecution.

Akunyili believes Aondoakaa’s statement is libelous and injurious to her person and reputation.

The AGF reportedly made this statement in The Nation Newspaper of Monday, 8 February,  2010.

The Minister described Akunyili as a self-seeking office holder who wants to make herself a cheap hero.

Aondoakaa said: "Well, first, she did not understand the constitution and she is not following events in the country. I think she was just trying to make herself a cheap hero out of that. If you see what the Senate said, the Senate made an appeal. She does not need the FEC to make an appeal; she can also make her appeal.

"The Senate said it was appealing. You saw the spokesman of the Senate eventually came out and said they have no power to compel the man. Now, there is even a court decision that says that transmission of letter shall be voluntary. It is within the President.

"Bringing the memo to the FEC is just to make herself an angel. She wants to be seen as a populist. Whatever she wants to gain from it is still personal. None of the FEC members has disrespect for the Vice-President. As far as we are concerned, the VP is our leader and he is leading us. What she is trying to do is self-seeking; let her go and confront herself with what happened in NAFDAC.

"We are working as a team and the AGF is there. You cannot just come out as an island and take a decision and try to rock the boat without even consulting your colleagues. Just because the next day the press will bring you out and make you a hero and others as villains.

"But you will discover that out of the ministers, others are working assiduously to make the VP have full presidential powers without talking to anybody. In fact the public does not know that they are the ones working to make the VP assume full powers to carry the country forward. They don’t go to pages of the papers to talk but they are working tirelessly to make sure that this thing works and the country moves forward."