In a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also asked the President to hand over Okupe to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for prosecution and apologise to Nigerians for appointing him as his spokesman.
The party said the Jonathan administration, in its desperation to employ an “attack dog” to spearhead its onslaught against the opposition parties, ended up outsourcing the job to Okupe.
Citing an online report, it said the presidential aide was on the list of those being investigated by the EFCC “on account of a contract running into hundreds of millions of naira obtained from the Benue State Governor while serving under former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a similar capacity as the chief spokesperson of that administration.”
But when contacted, the EFCC said the Presidential spokesperson was not under investigation by its operatives.
The Head of the commission’s media unit, Mr. Wilson Uwujaaren, in his reaction to an enquiry by The PUNCH in Abuja, said, “I am not aware and it is not to my notice that Okupe is under investigation.”
Okupe could not be reached on Monday to comment on the allegation.
ACN, however, insisted that the appointment of Okupe in spite of his past record should not come as a surprise to any close observer of the Jonathan administration.
According to the party, it only confirms the fatal attraction President Jonathan has for appointing or “retaining tainted and damaged persons.”
It said, “The ill-informed decision of President Jonathan to appoint as his chief image maker, a person who needs to be publicly prosecuted for alleged crime has once again confirmed that the Jonathan administration is deeply troubled about its public image and perception as a rudderless government that is lost at sea with no compass.”
The ACN said no amount of spin would rescue the government from public odium.
It added, “The Action Congress of Nigeria therefore calls on President Jonathan today to fire Dr Doyin Okupe immediately, allow the EFCC to prosecute him and offer Nigerians an unpreserved apology for appointing someone who needs to be publicly prosecuted for alleged crime to interface with and on their behalf.”
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