Read Reuben Abati's Statement About Taking A Bullet For Goodluck Jonathan

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati, bares his mind on several issues in an interview monitored on Rockcity 101.9 FM, Abeokuta, Ogun. 

Dr. Abati fielded questions on the challenges of his role as Jonathan’s media adviser, why the incumbent President was outwitted by the opposition, the allegation that his former boss Pres. Jonathan was a drunkard and other sundry matters. 

Asked to affirm if his former boss Goodluck Jonathan was a drunk as alleged, Dr. Abati said;

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 4 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. The people must find justifications to say this is why we think this situation is this way it is. I tell you and Nigerians will remember that he is a very humble man; he is a very committed person to the Nigerian project. 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 we maybe our station, is to remain committed to Nigeria, and to support whoever has emerged and to respect the choice and the decision of Nigerians. This is not about witch-hunt, it’s not about criticising 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. What will you say were his major achievements that the present administration has to build on? As I’ve told you, the campaign is over, I’m not going to sit here and continue to campaign, no. All I can say is that the election is over, the campaign is over, and we have President Buhari in the saddle. President Buhari has his own vision, he’s already engaging Nigerians, and we must support him and encourage him to move forward. We are not looking backwards, we are looking forward. And I can tell you that President Jonathan is fully in support of President Buhari’s administration, he respects President Buhari because he believes that Nigeria is more important than everybody, and that is why he has chosen not to say anything because he believes that we are all, at the end of the day ordinary citizens, and whoever is there who has been chosen by Nigerians deserves our support. And you won’t find him fighting President Buhari, he wouldn’t do that, he will do everything to support the president that is there.

Asked if he had anything to say about people who may have stepped on their toes while serving as Jonathan’s media adviser, Dr. Abati said;

As spokesman for President Jonathan, for any president, as spokesman will step on toes because you are an errand man, you’re given an assignment, go and do this, go and say that. And you know the first call on the job is loyalty, as a spokesperson, you must be loyal. If you’re not loyal, you must not spend a day longer in the job and I understood this very well and I was very loyal to my boss and I have no regret because when you run Nigeria, you can’t do half and half job, you must be loyal to your principal, and you must be ready to take bullet for your boss, the president is a special person, he’s the symbol of our democracy, he’s the head of democracy and the way Nigeria’s presidency is structured, the president is at the top of everything, if you can’t take the bullet for him then don’t work for him, whoever you may be. I was ready to take bullet for my boss.