In a move that seems to betray his fears ahead of the February 2015 general elections, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has quietly moved his children to the United Kingdom.
Presidency sources said the action was based on security advice.
Militant elements from Jonathan’s Ijaw ethnic group have been threatening war if he loses the election. For the first time, Nigeria’s opposition has come together to forge a strong alliance through the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, is currently making waves across the country.
Jonathan’s Special Adviser (Media & Publicity) Reuben Abati had on Sunday issued a statement that his boss “left Abuja this afternoon for a brief private visit to the United Kingdom.”
“The President was accompanied on the trip by some of his principal staff and personal aides,” he said.
Both Abati and Jonathan’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs Doying Okupe did not reply to enquiries by News Express on why their principal chose to move his children abroad. Before their relocation, Jonathan’s children were living with him and First Lady Patience Jonathan in the Presidential Villa while receiving an education at an elitist school in the Nigerian capital.
