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Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has denied endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan for reelection.Soyinka, in response to a story that was carried by a section of the media last week (excluding The Eagle Online), said he was yet to endorse any candidate for the presidential or governorship election.He, however, did not mention the name of any candidate, but the story last week in the media was about his endorsement of Jonathan.Describing the endorsement of a candidate for the election as his electoral right, he said he would make his choice known at the appropriate time.He said: “Whenever I choose to declare support for a candidate – as is my electoral right – I shall ensure that I deploy a medium that places my authorship beyond dispute.”Soyinka said what was done by those who instigated the story was to quote him out of context in a statement he authored on an entirely different issue.Soyinka was quoted as having said of Jonathan: “There is something significant about Mr. President.“He is the first president without any ties to the military mafia.“All his children are in schools here in Nigeria.“You cannot come across a skyscraper in any corner of Nigeria and people will tell you it belongs to him; even a seven storey building.“I strongly believe that GEJ is a phenomenal change from before and if we cannot find a better, young alternative, then we must remain with him until we can groom someone better.“This is no time to go back to the military mafia and go back to our vomit.”But Soyinka, whose main subject in his statement on Thursday was on the peace accord signed by the 14 presidential aspirants for the February 14, 2015 poll, said: “Let me thus seize the occasion of the Abuja accord to state categorically that I have never made a statement endorsing any presidential or governorship contestant.“All such attributions are fabrications by faceless, often self-appointed agents of deception, and should be publicly pilloried.“Whenever I choose to declare support for a candidate – as is my electoral right – I shall ensure that I deploy a medium that places my authorship beyond dispute.“Internet habituees, Social Network etc are urged to be less gullible, and avoid becoming cheap conduits for the deception industry!”Soyinka said he was going to take action against those manipulating his statements.He said: “I take a less serious – indeed, near carnivalesque – view of the opportunistic, and sometimes de-contextualized use of genuine quotes from statements I have made in the past – that is a different matter entirely.“As a non-pensioned writer however, and thus dependent on the proceeds of intellectual property, such users should expect to hear from my Literary Agents.”Speaking on the peace accord signed by the presidential candidates, Soyinka said there was a major gap in it.He said it did not factor in the electorates that have their identities stolen and debased during electoral contests.He praised the conveners of the peace accord meeting – Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Dr. Kofi Anan – but said they should have explored the angle of the protection of the electorate.Soyinka, in the statement titled: “Identity thieves and the 2015 election peace accord,” said: “It was with high expectations that I went gone through details of the Abuja peace accord recently agreed by the political party leaders, mandating decent and civilized campaign conduct among the contestants, their agents and supporters. I was not disappointed. It is a positive step in the direction of democracy, for which I must commend the efforts of those seasoned interventionists, Emeka Anyaoku and Kofi Annan. Adhered to with good will and sincerity, it should ensure a wholesome space for future elections, and pre-empt further violence. It might even come close to what the democratic ideal should be, as canvassed by others, including Governor Fashola a few years ago – a people’s fiests!“From personal interest however, I was disappointed that the communiqué makes no reference to the violence done to members of the electorate whose identities are stolen, abused and debased during this exercise. It is rapidly becoming commonplace to encounter totally fictitious statements, even entire interviews published and attributed to unsuspecting authorship. This criminal proceeding has even involved the cloning of media mastheads to which non-existent interviews are then attached. To render it in local parlance, this is political 419, and of the most despicable brand.
“While it would be unjust to place direct responsibility on the contestants, one must stress that they also have a moral responsibility to denounce these dirty tricksters in the strongest terms, even in their own interest. The resentment inspired in victims of such cowardly conduct cannot but impact on their own political image. The media must also protect itself by taking necessary measures against such unprincipled confusionists. It is the democratic right of every citizen to know exactly who is saying what on issues that affect their political choices.”
