Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, defends the commander-in-chief President Jonathan, blasts the opposition party – APC, and addresses reports that the government is not doing anything to end insecurity
Excerpts: On going cold after joining the government: “This is an old question. I have responded to this question so many times. I don’t owe anybody an apology. It was my decision to take, to work for government, and in particular to work for President Goodluck Jonathan because I believe in him and I admire him. And having taken that decision, I am not going to spend my time apologising to people because as an individual, I have the right to make a choice. It was my choice to work for President Jonathan and to accept the position of his spokesperson and media adviser and I have absolutely no apology and I have seen that for me, it is a positive move because today, I consider myself much better informed, because I have been on both sides. I have lived the life of the outsider looking at government, governance and society from one observatory and I have also been inside and I can see how government functions. I don’t think any form of apprenticeship in terms of exposure to public life can be higher than working with the president of a democratic country, working at the highest level of authority. It puts you in a vantage position to learn so much. If this was a course of study in which a certificate is awarded, I think I should be getting close to getting one, having taken so many course units and learning so much. I am talking about apprenticeship in a serious sense, and the opportunity also to serve one’s country. I don’t think anybody can put that down by saying ‘you were once a social critic, you shouldn’t be here.’ No. In fact, I will encourage so many other journalists and persons in other capacities to come into government and work for government. Why is it an issue that when a journalist works for government, people complain? There are doctors in government. There are engineers working for government, their colleagues have not carried placards. We all have a duty to play a role in the making of our country. But of course, since I came here, I have seen many of those who criticised me ferociously – our own colleagues – hanging around and hustling for appointments and many of them have taken this or that position in government, much excitedly too. And when they land on this side, I say to them: ‘Ha, I thought you wrote an article the other day and published articles criticising Reuben Abati. You are on this side now too.’ I welcome them and I congratulate them. So, you see, I have no apologies whatsoever. I have no regrets also.” On criticism that GEJ’s administration isn’t achieving anything: “I don’t know who you are talking about because when you say some people, the only people I still see out there that are misinforming and misleading the people are people who have partisan interests. They are persons who sponsor other people to pull down government because they themselves are interested in the office of the president. But you see, it doesn’t matter, the amount of blackmail or hate campaign or disinformation that those persons put out. They cannot run away from the facts and the facts speak for themselves in terms of the achievements of this administration. And I will urge you also, as a journalist who has the opportunity to do little research on this, to make the effort and to help us inform the public that whoever is saying this administration has done nothing is telling a lie. Now, for the first time in the history of this country, you have a president who approached the electorate and said: ‘This is my contract with you, this is what I will do, I will focus on the following issues; job creation, inclusive growth, strengthening the education sector, providing infrastructure, ensuring transformation in many aspects of our life both local and in terms of our relationship with the rest of the world, change the look of government and provide purposeful leadership.’ And he has kept his promise on all of these goals. This is the first administration in Nigeria in recent memory, the first president that would give the directive that his ministers one by one, should go and face the public, face the cabinet first, give an account of what they have been doing and go to the public and also give an account of what they have been doing. This is the government that has upheld the twin pillars of transparency and accountability in every regard. We just had the gubernatorial election in Osun State. The PDP lost, the opposition won. President Jonathan immediately congratulated the winner. The same people who were complaining that there was too much security are the same people who are now turning around saying President Jonathan did well. They have seen that this is a president who is committed to the rule of law and who is committed to free and fair elections.