You’re Fifth Columnists, Mark Slams Presidential Aides

Just falling short of asking him to sack them, the Senate this morning asked President Goodluck Jonathan to caution his ministers against making statements capable of straining the relationship between the executive and the legislature.

The Senate reached this resolution after discussing the recent condemnations of both chambers of National Assembly’s response to presentation of 2013 budget last week by Dr. Doyin Okupe and Alhaji Gulak, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs and Special Adviser to the President respectively.

The Presidential aides had described the response from David Mark, the President of the Senate and Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the budget presentation as uncivil and a deliberate ploy to embarrass the President who was a guest of the lawmakers.

While speaking before passing the resolution, Mark described the aides of President Jonathan as incapable lots who are trying to cover up their inefficiency by instigating disagreements between the executive and the legislature.

“The fact of the matter is that if Gulak is serious about his advice to us, we will take it in good faith and we will act, but here is an aide who is really advising his principal on a collision course, who is going out of his duty to tell the other side now that you are now firing enough shots, that is what it means by the end of the day.

“And I think by now Gulak has no business in the Villa anymore, but it is not our duty to employ aides for the President, it is not our duty to sack aides for him either, but by now I think he should know what he should do with his aides who are putting him on a collision course with the National Assembly. They certainly cannot be described as good or helpful aides.

“Their Principal will not be happy with them if they go around giving impression that the Executive and the National Assembly are not working together. We are on the same page with the President of this country, but certainly his aides who are fifth columnists are not on the same page even with their principal.

”And if a mad dog begins to bite its owner, I think you who is a neighbour will do well to run away from that dog. That is what they are doing knowingly or unknowingly. He has the right to hire or fire and he will know what to do with them after receiving our resolutions,” said Mark.
While contributing to the discussion, Professor Sola Adeyeye said the aides of the President have the temerity to abuse legislators because the lawmakers have not taken their assignments seriously in the past.

Senator Smart Adeyemi said some of the aides of President Jonathan are not only not qualified for the positions they have been appointed into, but that they are working for the downfall of his government.

By Oluokun Ayorinde/Abuja