Jonathan Is Not Sick – Presidency

As against news that went round during the weekend about President Goodluck Jonathan's ill health that needed serious attention, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, has declared that the reports are just  "the figments of the writers' imagination."

Punch reports that Reuben Abati made it known through a phone call that the President is just on a private visit to Germany and that all the reports about the president being sick is just one of the plots of the opposing party to mislead people concerning what is happening to the President.

‎Reuben Abati went further to say that the video and audio that was released  on Saturday showing Jonathan speaking on the telephone with members of the national Under-20 women's football team, the Falconets, asking them to go all out for victory in Sunday's final of the 2014 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Canada, was evidence enough to know that the President in not sick.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity said: "Before leaving Nigeria, I issued a statement that the President will be embarking on a private visit to Germany with a few of his aides.

"On Saturday, I sent out a statement that the President spoke with the Falconets on the telephone. I also sent out the video and audio of his conversation with the players where he promised to stay awake and watch the final match. The NTA and some other broadcasting stations aired the video and audio.

There are also photographs out there showing the President when he was leaving Nigeria and when he was arriving Germany. The President is hale and hearty. In fact, he is treating files in his hotel room.

"Are these not enough proofs that Mr. President is not sick as they want Nigerians to believe? It is important to note that the publisher of the newspaper that has been writing this false report is a chieftain of an opposition party who also have an ambition to be President."

It would be recalled that earlier this year, the president embarked on similar visit to Germany, a visit many suspected to be based on medical reasons.

It would also be noted that in year 2012, the Presidency denied that the President's wife, Patience Jonathan, traveled on medical reasons. However, the president's wife later revealed to newsmen that she had almost died in Germany.