Reno Omokri, a media aide to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has opened up on the circumstances behind the purchase of a 2023 Presidential nomination form of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the former leader.
Jonathan trended online after a Fulani group, Miyetti Allah reportedly purchased the N100 million form for him.
Reacting to the development, Omokri in a video posted on his social media page on Tuesday, revealed that Jonathan was not contesting and that he has rejected the form.
He said: “So yesterday there was a lot of hullabaloo on social media and there was a lot of, you know, rumours and back and forth about Former President Jonathan joining the All Progressive Congress and picking an APC form.”
“And you know, I would have come out early enough to debunk that story, but the thing is I was on a flight. I am currently in Israel, you know, I’ve just landed, I have not actually. . .I’ve not even changed my clothes, I have not even had a shower, I’ve just literally landed in Israel.”
“And so you are going to see the photo, I mean, I have been on a flight. . . on a flight for like 12 hours. Fortunately some of the way on the flight I had Internet, so I was communicating with journalists in Nigeria and other influential persons who contacted me.”
“Beyond. . .and I communicated with Former President Jonathan, you know. I was initially from the air, you know, just going to release something. We put something together, you know and then we crafted it, which eventually came out, but I just counselled, I said, “Listen, you know what? We are getting so much attention from our enemies and from haters and from the media and from political opponents, you know, people who are dancing and they are becoming delirious because they think that, ‘Oh, Jonathan is actually finally in the mud. We can rejoice”. Because they thought that they destroyed Jonathan in 2015 and they destroyed people who are affiliated with him, like myself.”
“And so I said, you know what? Because this is something that is very important to me. When false information has been made against you, when you’ve been accused falsely and you have the evidence to prove that it is false, you don’t immediately rush and then debunk it. You’re losing a golden opportunity.”
“And what’s that opportunity? You need to see the reaction or responses of people, so that you know how many dead plants you have been watering. You know how many frenemies that are there. Because a lot of these people, when they finally think that you are down, then you are going to see their reactions, you are going to see their responses, they can’t hide it anymore. Then you begin to realise, “Oh my God! So this person that I thought was a friend was really an enemy? This person I thought was a lover was really a hater”?”
“So that’s what I told Former President Jonathan, I said, “Look, we have the evidence, let’s not rush it, let’s just wait and see”, you know. We talked to the editors, we talked to the news, the media, telling them that, “Look, we are going to give you information just before you go to press, but let us see the responses from people” and then we did. I saw a lot of responses, I saw a lot of views, I saw a lot of people, I saw. . .I mean I don’t want to mention names, but I saw people.”
“And that. . .it’s important to me. Now we’ve crossed a number of people, “OK, these people are not reliable, these people are not reliable, these people are not reliable”.
“I’ve said it before, look, I am not a member of a political party, but I have sympathies for the People’s Democratic Party and I have only had sympathies for them throughout my political career. I have never shifted. I am a stable person.”
“And you know, this was what caused my quarrel with Nasir El-Rufai. Nasir El-Rufai and I were very very close. A lot of these boys that are hanging around him, spending his money and taking crumbs from him, they are not as close as I used to be with Nasir El-Rufai.”
“But then, in October of 2010, precisely October 6th, Nasir El-Rufai called me in California then and began talking some strange talk about Buhari and I said, “No, no, no, look I am not that kind of person”. I am in politics for principles and I refuse to follow him and that’s how we quarrelled and that’s how he started sponsoring all kinds of stuff about me, trying to damage me, till today.”
“So, the APC as far as I am concerned is an evil demonic party, it has destroyed Nigeria’s economy and we need somebody to come and revive it. So I can never be a part of the APC. And if anybody goes into the APC thinking I’m going to go with them, It’s not going to happen.”
“And I have said this before. I am telling you, I do not believe that Former President Jonathan is . . . the man has said it several times, I have said it several times. But I’m going to say this, I will continue to support and to promote the People’s Democratic Party because I think, it’s not a perfect vehicle, but I think that it is the most pan-Nigerian vehicle that can bring unity to Nigeria, bring everybody together, build up the economy, you know and then address the security and build prosperity for everybody. And so I’ll continue to do that.”
“I am currently in Israel. I am shooting my documentary series, Reno Around The World, and so I’m going to be swimming in the Dead Sea, some of you literally saw me swim at the Bermuda Triangle and also in other parts of the world, I was in Iceland, so I am now here to swim in the Dead Sea.”
“So that was the real reason that I wasn’t able to be as communicative as I would normally be on social media.”
