Erstwhile Special Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Mr. Reuben Abati has claimed that the fact that the former President lost the March 28 election with about 2.5 million votes means that a large number of Nigerians actually believed in him and in the ability and capability of his administration to move Nigeria forward.
Abati, who was speaking during a recent interview with Rockcity 101.9 FM, Abeokuta, Ogun State, explained that what happened during the last election was a play out of democracy which allows people the right to make a choice and when that choice is made, it has to be respected.
Describing Jonathan as one very committed person to the Nigerian project, he said:
“If you look at the results of the elections, you’ll see that he lost the elections with about 2.5 million votes or thereabout, which means that a large number of Nigerians still believed in him and also believed in his ability and his capability of his administration to move Nigeria forward. We were dealing with a democracy; the people have a right to make a choice, when the people make a choice, we respect that choice.
“And our commitment as Nigerians, whoever we may be, whatever maybe our situation, is to remain committed to Nigeria, and to support whoever has emerged and to respect the choice and the decision of Nigerians,” he stated.
The former presidential spokesman also tried to debunk the widely held perception that former President, Goodluck Jonathan was usually hooked on alcohol during the twilight of his administration, stressing that Jonathan does not drink as that was merely one of the myths about the immediate past administration.
Noting that Nigerians will always remember the former President as a very humble man, Abati said: “President Jonathan does not drink. You see, that’s one of the myths about that administration and you must understand how this thing is, it’s all about perception, communication, it’s all about what goes out and it’s about stereotyping. People just stereotype people from a particular part of the country as drunkards, and they look for justification for one type of behaviour or the other.
“But I can tell you that in my four years of working for President Jonathan, I never found him in a bibulous situation. If he ever tasted any drink, maybe a glass of wine during special occasions. All those stories about him drinking, about President Jonathan always being berated, about bibulous situations inside the Villa, those things did not exist.
“This is not about witch-hunt, it’s not about criticizing people, the Nigerian people have spoken and we stand by the decision of the Nigerian people. And we all support whoever is there to move Nigeria forward. So this backward looking, can we just look forward? Can we all just work together to move Nigeria forward? For me, that is where the emphasis should be, because we are all Nigerians and at the end of the day the country is more important than all of us,” he stated.
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