The allegation made against him by the Muslims Right Concern (MURIC) that a Jewish symbol in the proposed commemorative new N100 note which will be officially issued on December 19 was his ploy to promote a Zion nation.
In a statement issued by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola on Sunday, the Muslim group had made some grave allegations against the president, including that the security system in Aso Rock was saturated with Israeli security operatives, while Jonathan had chosen to marginalise the North as was seen at the national conference.
But the President in his reaction explained that, while the purported symbol MURIC’s statement was referring to is the Star of David, “there is no where on that proposed note as indicated in the specimen that has been widely publicised where there is any Jewish or Zionist symbol or the Star of David.”
Speaking through his Special Adviser on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President accused MURIC of attempting to cause disaffection because of the design of the note, “the value of the note is written out in the three major languages in Nigeria, recognised in the constitution: Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa.
“No attempt has been made to use this proposed naira note to discriminate anybody and the attack on President Jonathan is undeserved, unwarranted and totally unkind. I believe that MURIC will see the need to quickly apologise for misleading the public and for issuing that kind of statement that can cause disaffection against the President,” Abati stated.
He described the claim by MURIC that the security system in Aso Rock is saturated with Israeli security operatives as “a blatant lie”, just as he maintained strongly that “there are no Israeli security operatives saturating the security system in Aso Rock.”
In a statement he issued on Monday evening, Abati said, “To convince himself that this is true, we will like to invite Prof. Akintola on a visit to the Presidential Villa, to see whether indeed it is Israelis that are in charge of security. “The security operatives in the Villa are not foreigners, they are Nigerians and there is no connection with Israel whatsoever. The premised of the issue that formed the basis for Akintola’s vituperation is wrong and he is misinformed.”