Former Presidential Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, has recounted occurrences in the aftermath of the 2015 presidential election that saw his principal, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, booted out of office.
Abati revealed how quickly power slipped from the former President after conceding defeat to the then-candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, before the official release of the results of the presidential election.
The former presidential spokesperson was a guest on this week’s episode of #WithChude, a programme hosted by founder of Joy, Inc., Chude Jideonwo.
‘The first thing I noticed after that phone call that the President had conceded, is that people stopped coming to the villa to see the former President. The villa became a ghost town. The traffic to that villa just disappeared.’
‘We were seeing pictures of people already going to the other side, to the President-Elect, including members of the Jonathan government. They had changed camp, and the speed with which it was done was amazing,’ he disclosed.
‘Around the villa, some of the people started taking excuse that they wanted to go to their village, or London for a checkup. These were people who would ordinarily not move an inch, who wanted to be in the presence of the President all the time. That taught me a lesson that you’re only as relevant as the position you occupy.’
He also spoke about the fickleness of power and why it is important to remember that real power belongs to the people in the long run.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
