FIRST lady Dame Patience Jonathan has reportedly began packing her belongings out of the presidential villa after her husband lost Nigeria's presidential elections to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari.

 Yesterday, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared General Buhari the winner of Saturday's presidential polls, stating that he had defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan by 2.57m votes. When the official results were released, General Buhari scored 15,424,921 votes or 53.95% of the valid ballots cast, compared with 12,853,162 for President Jonathan. 

Apparently, as soon as the result became clear, Dame Jonathan summoned her domestic staff and ordered them to pack her personal belongings in readiness for the change of guard. It is believed that she is gradually moving her belongings to a new location as two truckloads of items were transported out of Aso Rock last night. 

One presidency source said: “By 6pm, the truck had made two trips.” This early movement was said to have surprised presidency staff as the official handover does not take place until May 29. 

Dame Jonathan has been a very controversial figure in Nigerian politics over the last five years with her frequently outbursts and vocal nature. During the campaigns, she was also very scathing in her attacks on the APC and General Buhari.