Femi Adesina, special adviser to
President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, says the decision of PUNCH
to refer to the president as a “major general” is proof of press freedom.
In an editorial entitled
“Buhari’s lawlessness: Our stand”, on Wednesday, the newspaper said it will
also refer to the Buhari administration as a regime until it purges itself of
”contempt for the rule of law”.
”As a symbolic demonstration of
our protest against autocracy and military-style repression, PUNCH (all our print
newspapers, The PUNCH, Saturday PUNCH, Sunday PUNCH, PUNCH Sports Extra, and
digital platforms, most especially Punchng.com) will henceforth prefix Buhari’s
name with his rank as a military dictator in the 80s, Major General, and refer
to his administration as a regime, until they purge themselves of their
insufferable contempt for the rule of law,” it said.
But responding hours after the
editorial went viral, Adesina said Buhari earned the rank, adding that all over
the world retired military personnel are now “democrats”.
“A newspaper says it will
henceforth address President Muhammadu Buhari by his military rank of Major
General.
Nothing untoward in it. It is a
rank the President attained by dint of hard work before he retired from the
Nigerian Army. And today, constitutionally, he is also Commander-in-Chief of
the Armed Forces,” Adesina said.
“All over the world, just as in
our country, a large number of retired military officers are now democrats. It
does not make those who did not pass through military service better than them.
“Rather than being pejorative,
addressing President Buhari by his military rank is another testimony to free
speech and freedom of the press, which this administration (or regime, if
anyone prefers: it is a matter of semantics) has pledged to uphold and
preserve.”
The Buhari administration has
been criticised for its application of extra-judicial means in matters.
In October, 2016, agents of the
Department of State Services (DSS) invaded the residences of judges in the dead
of night knocking down doors.
Also, there have been arrests and
detention of citizens by the secret police without regard to the verdicts of
the courts on the cases.
Omoyele Sowore, pro-democracy
activist, was rearrested last Friday — less than 24 hours after he was released
on Thursday. He had spent 124 days in detention before of his brief release.
No charges have been filed
against him since he was re-arrested, but he has been held for more than 48
hours against the law, which states that a person shall not be detained for
more than 48 hours without an order of a court.
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Some men are merely dogs saying anything just to be allowed to eat the droppings from other men's table
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