"I Demand He Start Playing His Fatherly Role" - President Jonathan’s Alleged Son

Controversy is now trailing the revelation of 24-year-old, Ibime Belema- Jonathan who is claiming that President Goodluck Jonathan is his father. The blogger, who broke the news of an alleged illegitimate son of President Jonathan, has said that he wrote the story purely as a blogger and not for monetary considerations. Responding to The Leadership enquiries in Lagos yesterday, Chukwudi Iwuchukwu, a lawyer, said that he got the story from a friend who linked him up with Mr Belema-Jonathan.

“A friend sent his picture together with his number to me. I spoke to him on phone before going to press.”

On whether he carried out any background check on Belema-Jonathan, Iwuchukwu said that he did, but could not find anything to the contrary. “I did but could not come up with anything. I could not see his profile on social media, not even his twitter handle, and that is why I wrote a caveat at the end of the story that “we are in a political season and so anything can come up now.”

He also said Belema Jonathan told him that he did not know any member of the Jonathan extended family as his late mum did not introduce him to any of them while alive.

Iwuchukwu further claimed that he tried all he could to confirm the story with the presidency but without success.

‘I called the president’s S.A. (special assistant) on social media, Reno Omokori, but he did not respond to my calls or enquirers,” he said, noting that once the story was published, it immediately attracted huge public attention on the internet.

“The story has gone viral and the responses have been massive, showing that Nigerians are becoming more conscious and interested in their leaders’ private and family life.”

He insisted that he did not write the story for any gratification, adding that he is a sympathizer of the president. “No, I can’t collect money from anybody to publish such story. I’m Mr President’s sympathizer and will vote for him and his party next month, so there is no way I would collude with the opposition to attract negative press to him. I was only doing my bob,” he explained.

The Leadership investigations reveals that according to Belema-Jonathan, his mother was a receptionist in a Port Harcourt hotel (which shall remain undisclosed) when she met Jonathan nearly 25 years ago, and their affair was kept under the table because of the risk it posed to Jonathan’s then fledgling political career.

According to him, he decided to come forward now after his mother told him about his father just passing away recently. He wants his father to begin to play his fatherly role.