Following criticisms about his appointment as special adviser on media to the senate president, Dr Ahmed Lawan, Dr Festus Adedayo has said he didn’t beg to get the job.
The appointment of Adedayo, who was media adviser to former governors Chimaroke Nnamani and Abiola Ajimobi of Enugu and Oyo State respectively was announced yesterday.
Speaking with on Wednesday evening, Mr Adedayo said he did not ask for the appointment.
The journalist, who described himself as a professional “who writes what I feel about the need for a good society,” told PREMIUM TIMES that most of those who were commenting mistook him for a politician.
“I have never been a politician. But if the politicians feel that it is their birthright, they can have the appointment; it is not a do or die thing for me at all. If I go there, I’m going there to serve the country,” he said.
When asked if he has accepted the appointment, he said he is still consulting with his family.
“As I talk to you, I’m a student of the Law School and it is a certificate that I’ve sought to own all my life. So, for me to abandon it, is an issue that I’m still battling.
“I have never done anything in my life other than in the media. I have been a reporter, features editor, opinion editor. The only ‘affiliary’ thing I’ve done is be a media adviser to two governors and in those respect, I did my job as a journalist and a professional.”
Adedayo said although he had worked with PDP and APC governors, he had never been a card-carrying member of any political party in Nigeria.
“The Senate President, I reckon, wanted me on the basis of my professionalism but if politicians feel it is theirs for keep, so be it,” he said.
“I don’t have any apologies for the fact that I am not a politician. I never worked for any political party and I am not going to work for any political party. But I have an idea of what a good country needs. And I will always write about it all the days of my life.
“I didn’t canvass for the job. I didn’t lobby for the job. I didn’t ask for the job. If the Senate President in his wisdom felt that he needed me, so be it,” he explained.
He added that should he accept the appointment, it “can never change anything.”
“One which I always did with my principals in government was to walk up to them and tell them the truth. If I take this appointment, I will continue in the same mode.”
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