The presidency on Sunday spurned report that President Goodluck Jonathan is currently in New York with a 600-man delegation for the United Nations General Assembly.
Special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said in a statement last night that the usual scurrilous and baseless attacks on the Jonathan administration with the latest publication of a false claim that the President led a 600-man delegation to the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York were regrettable.
“The truth is that less than 30 persons arrived in New York with the President this morning as members of his entourage. Other than them, the only other persons who are in New York for the UN General Assembly with the President’s knowledge and approval are relevant ministers and few essential aides,” Abati added.
He argued that “President Jonathan’s official delegation is definitely not out of proportion with Nigeria’s size, role and relevance in Africa and the global community,” even as he noted that the claim by the online paper “that the President’s delegation is the largest at this year’s UN General Assembly is an unjustifiable fabrication which can never stand any rigorous test of truthfulness.”
Affirming that there was absolutely no truth in the allegation that the President took a 600-man delegation to New York, Abati maintained that there was also no substance to the rehashed charge of profligacy which had been annually made against the President when he led Nigeria’s delegation to the UN General Assembly.
He explained further: “We are certainly aware that many Nigerian citizens are currently on visits to New York. These persons are here for their own purposes and neither President Jonathan nor his administration has any responsibility for the presence of these persons in New York
Source: Leadership
