a beehive of activities to a deserted place, as an aftermath
of President Goodluck Jonathan's defeat at the 2015
presidential poll.
The number of prominent Nigerians, including top politicians,
business moguls, Christian leaders, expatriates and
technocrats as well as lobbyists who throng the place on a
daily basis has drastically reduced.
According to reports by close sources to the Presidency, about
800 to 1000 people used to visit the presidential villa
weekly before the elections, but only about 150 has visited in
the last couple of weeks.
It was observed that between March 28 and last week, the
number of persons visiting Jonathan, VP Namadi Sambo, the
First Lady and other presidential aides had dropped to just
150 from about 1,000.
Infact it is said that some of these lobbyists used to frolick
with the first family round the clock, including joining in the
morning prayers at the Villa Chapel but sadly, none of these
big men have time to pray with President Jonathan again.
Special functions like retreats, seminars, dinners and other
programmes held at the banquet hall, Aso Rock usually played
host to thousands of guests, including gate crashers in the
past.
Before the presidential poll, there were governors and former
governors who visited the president in his office on a regular
basis, sometimes twice a week or more, but after the election
they have stayed away.
The regular visitors then were Akwa Ibom State Gov, Godswill
Akpabio; Benue State Gov, Gabriel Suswam; Ondo State
Gov, Olusegun Mimmiko; Bauchi State Gov, Isa
Yuguda; Katsina State Gov, Ibrahim Shema and Ekiti State
Gov, Ayo Fayose among several others.
Sadly, those even considered as members of Jonathan's
kitchen cabinet have only visited once or twice since March
28 election.
Governor Akpabio showed up only once in the villa, the week
after the poll. Mimiko came only last week Thursday. Suswam
visited the place last Friday merely to attend the meeting of
the board of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC)
Ltd chaired by Vice President Namadi Sambo.
Yet some of them have been seen frolicking with members of
APC.
The story is not the different in the business community, self
acclaimed allies of the President, who turned the villa to their
second home before the election, have also deserted the
place.
These include the likes of Femi Otedola, Emeka Offor, Arthur
Eze, Jim Ovia, and Jimoh Ibrahim among others.
Last on the list is the hordes of Nollywood actors and
actresses, musicians and sports stars who have also deserted
the villa unlike before Jonathan lost his re-election bid.
As a result of this, security personnels at the gates, who
usually had very hectic days clearing people, now have little
to no work to do.
Upon entry to Aso Rock, visitors are usually required to
present photo identification with information exactly matching
the name previously submitted for clearance, and individuals
whose identification do not exactly match the name or date
cleared would be denied entry.
The scanty turnout of visitors to the villa in the past few
weeks became quite noticeable owing to the fact that during
months and weeks that preceded the presidential polls, the
place was hardly big enough to contain the hordes of people
who came to show solidarity to President Jonathan's re-
election bid.
"They are simply fair weather friends. This will show you how
hypocritical politicians could be. When it was obvious that the
outgoing regime had what it takes to address their interest
politically, even those who had no business coming here were
constantly at war with security operatives, seeking to gain
entrance to show their fake loyalty.
"I am sure the president and his aides would have learnt their
lessons by now, although late, that power is transient and
political power is quite ephemeral," a close source to the
Presidency said. -Societynowng.com
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