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In a recent chat with newsmen, Abati bore his mind on several pressing issues, from the belief that the former president is a drunkard to his experience as an adviser to the president.

Read excerpts from the interview below:

Can you sum up your experience as an adviser to the president on media?

“It will be difficult within the limited time that a radio programme affords us, to summarise the entire experience but I’ll like to say this: a lot of people in Nigeria, who are on the other side of the street who criticise, who look into the system, who query the system, who ask question, who interrogate the system, but somewhere along the line, an opportunity comes for you to be part of the team, to rescue Nigeria, to help Nigeria, to help Nigeria move forward, now that was my own case.

I was out there as a critic and then I got an opportunity to be on the other side of the street, the principle is the same-to help move Nigeria forward and coming out of that experience four years later , you can’t tell everybody, it was a good experience. Nigeria is more important than every individual, so I come out of that experience four years later, fully convinced that I made a good choice without any regret.”

You were an insider in that government, you just said President Jonathan meant well, but how come Nigerians eventually misunderstood and underrated him as a person? For instance, without being sentimental, one would think there is nothing wrong with an adult taking alcoholic drink, does he drink?

“President Jonathan does not drink. You see, that’s one of the myths about that administration and you must understand how this thing is, it’s all about perception, communication, it’s all about what goes out and it’s about stereotyping. People just stereotype people from a particular part of the country as drunkards, and they look for justification for one type of behaviour or the other.

But I can tell you that in my 4 years of working for President Jonathan, I never found him in a bibulous situation. If he ever tasted any drink, maybe a glass of wine during special occasions. All those stories about him drinking, about President Jonathan always being berated, about bibulous situations inside the Villa, those things did not exist.”

Obviously while doing your job, it is not impossible you must have stepped on toes, knowingly or unknowingly, have you identified that?

“As spokesman for President Jonathan, for any president, as spokesman will step on toes because you are an errand man, you’re given an assignment, go and do this, go and say that. And you know the first call on the job is loyalty, as a spokesperson, you must be loyal.

I was very loyal to my boss and I have no regret because when you run Nigeria, you can’t do half and half job, you must be loyal to your principal, and you must be ready to take bullet for your boss. The way Nigeria’s presidency is structured, the president is at the top of everything, if you can’t take the bullet for him then don’t work for him, whoever you may be. I was ready to take bullet for my boss.”