The
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, on Tuesday said it
was wrong for the opposition All Progressives Congress to demand an
apology from President Goodluck Jonathan over the recent diplomatic row
between Nigeria and Morocco.
While
admitting that there was a mix-up along the line, he said Jonathan had
nothing to do with the incident and he needs not to apologise to
anybody.
Wali spoke
in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after attending
a meeting of the Security Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The
diplomatic row between the two countries is over whether or not Jonathan
recently engaged King Mohammed VI of Morocco in a telephone
conversation.
While the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement claiming that Jonathan
spoke with the Moroccan king, authorities of the kingdom denied the
claim and thereafter recalled their ambassador to Nigeria.
Jonathan
last Friday confirmed that he did not speak with the king and ordered
the minister to probe the statement with a view to identifying the
culprits and their motives.
Wali said he had already taken action on the President’s directive.
He regretted that some opposition elements were trying to read political meaning into the mix-up.
He said,
“At this level of our diplomacy, a lot of things can happen. So, we are
trying to find out, and I will like to say that the President has
nothing to do with it.
“This is something that has happened and there is a bit of mixup somewhere along the line. We are going to unravel it.
“So, the
President has nothing to do with it. Therefore, people should not
politicise it, like I hear some senators from the opposition asking the
President to apologise to the country.
“if at all
anybody is going to apologise, and I being the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, will be the one to apologise and not Mr. President.”
When asked
if he accepted the fact that he was culpable in the saga, Wali said,
“Well, I am investigating. If at all there is anybody who should
apologise, it is after the investigation.
“Whatever
it is, that is the time we will come out with a position. But now, there
is no reason to apologise because we cannot pre-judge and we believe in
due process.
“So the
President gave directive and I am looking into it and by the time we get
to the bottom of the investigations, then the public will know.”
When
further asked if a press statement could be issued from his ministry
without his knowledge, Wali added, “It is something that I am digging
into. The President asked me to look into it and I am looking into it.”
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