Reno Omokri, a former media adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, says he received a barrage of calls after a post on social media claimed that his former boss had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
In a video posted to his YouTube page, the former presidential aide and one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s most outspoken critics said he couldn’t sleep for 24 hours after receiving calls from current and past governors, as well as politicians.
Reno, who labeled the Twitter report’s creator as a “obscure person,” expressed doubts about the former president’s joining the APC.
He claimed Jonathan was currently Nigeria’s and Africa’s most popular person, emphasizing that his role in restoring democracy across the continent has won him the title of “face of democracy” and a Mandela figure.
He said, “For the past 24 hours, I and my little daughter have not been able to sleep. I had to turn my phone off yet people found other means of reaching me.
“Incumbent and former governors, present and former senators and editors of newspapers and other very influential persons in Nigeria were calling me all because they saw a Twitter post saying that the former President, Goodluck Jonathan has joined the APC and that it has been confirmed.
“You know how the APC people do when even a councillor joins the party, they will dance naked in the public and go for a newspaper advert. Goodluck Jonathan is probably the most popular person in Nigeria and maybe Africa.
“Through what he has done in the continent for the past 6 years, he has probably become like a Mandela figure. He is presently seen as the face of democracy in Africa.
“If such a person is going to join a political party like the APC, is it going to be through one obscure person tweeting it on Twitter to confirm it? He has spokesman like me and other loyalists. This man is 63 years old and in all his life, he has Ben in one political party. Nobody should call me about this again”.