President Goodluck Jonathan
King Mohammed VI of Morocco has refused to accept a phone conversation with President Goodluck Jonathan based on the notion that it is politically inclined.
According to www.moroccoworldnews.com, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a communique released on Friday, said a request by Nigerian authorities for a phone conversation between Mohammed and Jonathan was refused by the Monarch who deemed it “inappropriate on grounds of the upcoming elections in Nigeria.”
The king refused to accept the request which he deemed “inappropriate” on grounds that it is linked to the important elections in Nigeria and also because of Nigeria’s positions regarding the sacred national, Arab and Islamic causes, the Ministry said in a statement.
The Nigerian authorities request for the phone conversation and the sending of a Nigerian envoy to the Kingdom is more akin to an attempt to gain Muslim votes than a normal diplomatic act, added the statement.
Nigeria is one of the allies of Algeria, South Africa and Venezuela in defending the Polisario with the regards to the question of Western Sahara and has been lobbying the United Nations and calling for the establishment of human rights monitoring mechanism in the territory.
Efforts to reach the Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, on Saturday failed.
BY AGENCY REPORT
