The Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, says some staff of the present administration have started to switch allegiance to the incoming government.
He described the development as ‘human nature.’
According to him, it is very normal for people to switch allegiance but noted that the way with which people are switching their allegiance to the incoming administration is different from what ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, experienced.
This according to Shehu was because Jonathan was patriotic.
Speaking on a television programme, he said, “You can’t change human beings. So, the man of the moment obviously is the incoming president. So, you will expect people, who will come around him, but I think the case of Jonathan was different because I think again, there was desertion by a number of people around him who felt disappointed that he chose to be patriotic, nationalistic, and accepted defeat.
“And quite a number of people, who were within his camp were not happy with that. So, yes, there was desertion, but I think in the case of President Muhammadu Buhari, the villa had never been like the party headquarters for him in the last eight years.
Shehu noted that visitors come and go however, there has been decency in it now. “And I don’t think that we’re witnessing any spectacular desertion of the place,” he added.
Speaking on the relationship between the president-elect and the outgoing president, the Senior Special Assistant said their relationship is cordial.
According to him, “It’s going to be a perfect relationship because it is going to be the same government although different administrations. He’s APC. When he (Tinubu) took his certificate from INEC, the first thing he did was that he flew to Daura and showed it to the president.
“The incoming president never gets tired of saying that the president allowed him to win. It is very significant. He allowed him to win in a free and fair process,” Shehu said
