PRESS STATEMENT: FORMER OFFICIAL OF JONATHAN’S FOUNDATION ‘BEHIND ILLEGAL CIRCULATION OF MY TRANSITION HOURS’

A group, The Nigeria Academic Think Tank, has accused the federal government of being responsible for the circulation of the fake soft copies of “My Transition Hours”, a book written by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Usman Aliyu, national coordinator, ​​​​​and Olufemi Akindele, the secretary, the group accused some officials of the incumbent administration of colluding with a former staff of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, to release after manipulation, the unfinished copy of the book.

“Obviously the book opened several cans of worms which many had ordinarily wanted closed, as It remains a historic fact that truth is temporarily in bondage to falsehood. However, when truth comes forcefully the earth gets shaken,” the statement read.

“Hardly had participants at the book launch, or enthusiasts all over the world, who were rushing to the book stores a day after the launch to pick copies of the book, settled down for its reading, a purported electronic version of the book, began to fly.

“By the noon of Wednesday 21st November, various electronic platforms particularly the social media applications such as WhatsApp and Telegram began to receive and circulate, the purported e-copy of the TRANSITION HOURS which in a matter of hours, was discovered to be fake as it differed from the published work to sabotage the intellectual work of the author, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

“Not only was the electronic version immediately discovered to be unauthorized it was also carefully released to render useless the contents of the original book and ultimately embarrass, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Therefore as stakeholders in the Academic circle, and having been privileged to have been adequately represented at the public presentation of the book, we became worried, not only about the desperate attempt by those who were responsible for the criminal action of releasing a FAKE version of the book, but also the implications of their nefarious action on intellectual property ownership, integrity and ultimately the desperation of the incumbent administration in Nigeria, whose agents, we eventually discovered were behind the manipulation of the book.

“We were appalled to behold two versions of the book emerging, the e-copy with a two hundred and fifty four (254) pages and the original with one hundred and Ninety four (194) pages. Our immediate and independent findings, using the instrumentality of our ICT Knowledge immediately confirmed that some agents of the incumbent APC administration had earlier before the due date of the public presentation of the book, had access to the unfinished copy of the book with the aid of a former employee of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation , who had earlier been sacked by the Foundation for committing several atrocities, while working at the foundation. In probing further, it was discovered that the said official had acted as a mole within, for several months before his eventual dismissal by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation.

“Therefore at about noon on Wednesday 21st November, the agents of the Federal government, armed with the unfinished copy of the “TRANSITION HOURS” already suspected to have been provided by the dismissed official , through a gmail account sent out the first copy of the fake version of the Book, through an internet source domiciled with the Federal government agency in Abuja, after which the document began to be circulated across the social media platforms.

“We are even more disturbed by the emerging fact that people are playing the games of power with this book rather than examining its essential ingredients that can lift the country out of the current confusion.It is not only disgusting but criminal that this administration is seemingly indicted in our current investigations. All fingers point to the fact the e-copy is a product of sabotage by the Federal Government while the copy launched is the original.

“More importantly we are disturbed, that it is rather impossible to come to equity with soiled hands. One wonders while a government, who takes pride in sloganeering integrity, could resort to working with a sacked employee the of Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, to produce the fake version in order to create mass confusion.”