President Jonathan Denies Drinking Spree On birthday, Condemns Rumour Mongers

President Goodluck Jonathan has described as fiction the story
that he fell ill in London after a "heavy birthday party thrown
to celebrate his 56th birthday" at the Intercontinental Hotel.

The President's special adviser on media, Dr. Reuben Abati,
in a press statement today, expressed regrets that despite the
open admittance of the president's ill health in London, some
online organs went ahead to make what he called " scurrilous
distortions of the facts of the President's indisposition".

"The truth", said Abati, " is that President Jonathan observed
his 56th birthday anniversary quietly. For part of the day, he
was airborne, in transit between Abuja and London. On
arrival in London, he spent the rest of the day in the privacy
of his hotel room. It has never been his custom to celebrate
birthday anniversaries and no exception was made this year.
No birthday party was therefore held for the President in
London".

The statement accused Sahara Reporters and "some other
reckless, lawless, impudent and unpatriotic internet-based
media of cooking up the " entirely fictional, malicious, hate-
driven and scurrilous distortion of the facts of the President's
indisposition.

The statement does not rule out legal action against the
peddlers of the false report.

"As unregulated as they are, Sahara Reporters and their ilk are
not beyond the bounds of legal action for libel and willful
defamation of the character and reputation of a President who
has courageously stepped forward to serve his country. They
know very well that they can never substantiate or prove the
constant false allegations and innuendoes they publish for the
sole purpose of negatively portraying President Jonathan and
his administration.

"Their incessant claim of a bibulous President is pure fiction
and blackmail, and the product of malicious imagination. We
warn that our forbearance of their disrespectful caricaturing of
the President is not limitless.

"The Presidency will like to reiterate the trite point that no
human being is beyond health challenges irrespective of their
station in life. Sadly, this commonplace fact appears to be
beyond the understanding of the publishers of Sahara
Reporters who seem to have lost all sense of propriety,
decency and human compassion.

Abati however said that the President took solace in "the
prayers, support and overwhelming goodwill of the people of
Nigeria, fully assured that the forces of good will continue to
triumph over the forces of darkness in our land."

He expressed Jonathan's gratitude to all " patriotic and well-
meaning Nigerians, including his supporters, friends and
political associates who expressed and conveyed their
sympathies and solidarity with him, through various means,
following the announcement of his sudden indisposition while
on a mission to attract greater investments to accelerate the
growth of the Nigerian economy in keeping with his agenda
for national transformation."

But the statement condemned "the utterly irresponsible,
deplorable, highly unprofessional and unethical antics of
certain fringe elements operating in the nebulous sphere of
cyberspace who persist in seizing every opportunity to
unjustifiably malign and impugn the character and integrity of
the elected leader of their country."