“Disregard the news credited to Reuben Abati that former President Jonathan will soon declare. He never made any statement like that. At best, it is a figment of the imagination of that journalist #FakeNews!” – Reno Omokri
By Emma Ogbuehi
Two former media aides to former President Goodluck Jonathan are now engaging themselves in social media war over their principal’s political aspirations in the 2023 elections.
Jonathan himself instigated the controversy on Friday when he told supporters pressuring him to declare for the 2023 presidential race to watch out for what will happen soon.
Speaking to scores of persons who besieged his Maitama, Abuja office on Friday to urge him to run, he said he could not immediately tell them if he would join the race.
The supporters, who had his posters with different inscriptions calling on him to contest, chanted his name and sang his praises.
Jonathan, however, called for patience, saying that he could not immediately tell them what he would do.
READ ALSO: Jonathan leaves supporters guessing after youths prodded him to declare for 2023
He said: “I cannot declare because some processes are still ongoing. Yes, you are calling on me to come and declare for the next election, I cannot tell you I am declaring. The political process is ongoing; just watch out. The key role you must play is that Nigeria must get somebody that will carry young people along.”
Shortly after, Reuben Abati, Special Adviser Media to Jonathan when he was president, took to his verified Facebook page to annonce that his former boss was set to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Abati said Jonathan will declare for the presidency on the platform of the ruling party.
There were reports that the former president had given the APC a condition that he would only join the party if he would get an automatic ticket to run for president in 2023.
But Abati in the Facebook post, which seems to have been pulled down now, said Jonathan had accepted to join the APC to pursue his presidential ambition.
However, on Sunday, Reno Omokri, another former media aide to Jonathan debunked the report.
A tweet by Omokri, Abati’s colleague at Aso Rock and Jonathan’s adviser on social media, on his verified Twitter handle on Sunday, urged Nigerians to disregard the comment by the Arise TV’s “The Morning Show” presenter, that their former principal would soon declare for the presidency.
According to Reno, Jonathan has not made such a statement.
He dismissed Abati’s claim as a figment of his imagination.
He said, “Disregard the news credited to Reuben Abati that former President Jonathan will soon declare. He never made any statement like that. At best, it is a figment of the imagination of that journalist #FakeNews!”
