PUNCH was conspicuously missing
among the national dailies that got front page advertorial from the presidency
on Wednesday.
The advertorial contained the New
Year message of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians. While the content
splashed on the cover page of major dailies, the newspaper, which describes
itself as the most widely read in Nigeria, had images of New Year celebrations
across the world and other stories.
It’s unclear if PUNCH was
deliberately omitted as a result of its decision to prefix Buhari’s name with –
major-general – his rank as a military dictator between 1984 and 1985.
In an editorial on December 11,
the newspaper announced that it would refer to Buhari’s government as a regime
over its “disregard for the rule of law”, citing among other caes, the
detention of Omoyele Sowore, convener of RevolutionNow Movement, despite two
courts granting him bail.
Sowore was released on Christmas
eve
Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu,
spokesmen of the president, had issued statements on the same day in response
to the editorial.
While Adesina said calling Buhari
major-general is a testament of press freedom, Shehu accused the newspaper of
cuddling dictators in the past.
Below are images of the front
cover of some dailies on Wednesday:
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