Two groups, the Niger Delta Rights Assembly and the Forum for New Media and Democracy, have thrown their weight behind the appointment of Dr. Doyin Okupe by President Goodluck Jonathan as his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs. The appointment of Okupe, a bold and outspoken politician was seen as a necessary intervention to bolster the waning public image of the president.

However, his appointment appears to have angered the opposition and a few persons in the Presidency resulting in a media campaign calling on the president to terminate Okupe’s appointment.

But yesterday, in two separate statements, the two groups said the campaign against Okupe was misplaced,  and a clear attempt to muzzle the voice of the president “whose public image and presence has improved marginally since the arrival of Okupe”.

The rights group in a press statement signed by its National President, Israel Bokromo, said those calling for Okupe’s head missed the point because the basis of their argument, to wit, the fog surrounding the inconclusive business transactions involving the company he is associated with in Benue and Imo States have been cleared by the anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the respective states involved.

The rights group statement was corroborated by yet another from an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation, Forum for New Media and Democracy. In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Dr Salome Durugbo, the democracy group said rather than throw Okupe out, the Presidency should commend him for his bravery and for adding quantifiable value to the president’s public image which has sagged in recent months.

“It is a shame that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is the one leading this charge. Our study has shown that politicians who rush to the media to rubbish others are usually worse than the people they criticise and this attitude has kept our democratic march stunted over the years. We urge the ACN and its recruits to first remove the elephant-size corruption in its midst before pointing to its perceived graft in another party or person”, the Forum said.

According to the Forum, it “would have made more sense if the ACN had first cleansed itself of the likes of Adeyemi Ikuforiji, the embattled Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly who is reeling under the weight of corruption before the court and other ex-convicts and proven thieves in its fold before asking another party to wean itself of corruption”.

Reacting to the on-going campaign against Okupe, the Niger Delta Rights Assembly lauded the wisdom of the president in appointing the Ogun State-born politician who “has in a matter of weeks demonstrated a rare passion for his job and the capacity to effectively interface between the presidency and the public”.