Uproar as Aso Rock expels Punch reporter

.I’ll look into the matter-Adesina

Nigerians on Monday condemned the expulsion of the accredited correspondent of the Punch newspapers in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Mr. Olalekan Adetayo, saying the action was aimed at muzzling the press.

They, therefore, called on the media and all men of goodwill to resist intimidation by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

The expulsion of Adetayo was ordered by Bashir Abubakar, the Chief Security Officer to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday.

Confirming the development, Adetayo said that the CSO summoned him Monday afternoon and asked him to tender a statement over the story he co-authored, published on Sunday edition of The Punch.

But at the verge of presenting the statement, his Identity Card was confiscated as he was escorted out of the premises.

The Daily Times further gathered that the CSO ‎had earlier issued a stern warning to Adetayo in January 2017 over reports of an accidental discharge from a security personnel which injured a female staff of the Presidential Villa.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, has however stated that he was not consulted before the action was taken.

The expulsion of Adetayo may not be unconnected with two materials authored by him and published by the Sunday Punch which Aso Rock Villa considered as offensive.

One of the reports was titled, “Fresh anxiety in Aso Rock over Buhari’s health”, while the second was his weekly column on happenings in Aso Rock.

Both were published in the last edition of Sunday Punch newspaper.

Mr. Adesina, in reaction, pointed out that even though he was not consulted before the expulsion, he would look into the matter.

In the words of the Presidential Media Adviser, “I was not consulted before it happened. I was not informed. We will look into this”.

Continuing, he said: “But I want to assure you that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will continue to uphold the freedom of the press and we will settle this amicably.”

It would be recalled that two weeks to the end of the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the late Gordon Obua, who was his chief security officer (CSO), expelled Musa Ubale, a correspondent of German Radio, Deutsche Welle, from Aso Rock Villa.

Obua also directed his men to withdraw the accreditation of Ubale before the reporter was driven out of the villa.

Ubale had drawn the ire of the powers that be for having the temerity to ask visiting President Idriss Déby of Chad some tough questions.

The reporter had asked Déby, who had just had a meeting with Jonathan, about the whereabouts of Abubakar Shekau, the Boko Haram leader, making reference to a statement by the Chadian leader who had said the sect’s leader had been seen in Dikwa, Borno State.

Some other accredited State House Correspondents who had been similarly expelled from the beat by the Presidency under previous regimes included Mr. Yomi Odunuga, then with the Punch Newspaper, Mr. Cyril Mba of the defunct Monitor Newspaper, and Mr. Femi Ipaye, a photo journalist with the News Magazine.

But reacting to the expulsion of the Punch reporter from the Aso Rock Villa on Monday, Mr. Sadiq Farouk, a Nigerian businessman, said that even if the Reporter’s action was biased, the action taken against him by the presidency was wrong. “This is very wrong even if his report was biased,” he said.

Another public spirited Nigerian reacting on his twitter handle @ KBE said: “Again! “ 1983 it started like play. Before the people of goodwill woke up many, souls had suffered unnecessarily. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The reactions which were expansive in Twitter handle lampooned the presidency for projecting anti-media front, which sends negative signal to the international community.

Dr. Pat Kolawole Awosan, of the patriot, said that irrespective of whatever the journalist had written, in a democratic setting, he deserves an applause.

“What false story did Lekan report? That there is anxiety in the villa over the man’s health or that he rarely appears in functions even within the villa these days, which one is false there,” Awosan asked.

@FemAdesina @akandeoj said that “the bottom line is that @MBuhari is not in charge, someone else is pulling the string, and our president has also refused to talk to us”.

Gary @ Garry said that “the Aso Rock belongs to the Nigerian people and not the personal property of its transient occupant who is answerable to the people through their representatives and the Press”.

According to Garry, the CSO cannot pick or choose who gets to cover his principal and how they do their job. “We are no longer under military rule and it’s about time those around President Buhari woke up to this reality and stop with intimidating the citizens of Nigeria”.

Garba Shehu and the other media aides, he said, have access and a right to refute untrue media reports. Public officials also have a right of reply and even civil suits if subjected to defamation, Garry noted.

“The Punch must not let this brazen abuse of power stand. And the State House Press Corps must show solidarity and stay away from covering the Villa in protest until the accreditation is restored. Let the government cover itself if they feel they can do without a free Press,” he added.

Politics of Equity @TrueNaijaboi said: “This is not good on you guys. Power is transient. #RealChange2019”.

Brainpower Faks said that “if Buhari’s government is performing fairly as expected by the electorate, the PDP protégés would have been silent forever but he failed by allowing himself to be used via his nephew that grossly appointed 85% of his appointees on biased mindsets coupled with complete incompetence. So blame none of those castigating his government and health situations”.

Meanwhile, Washington post on his handle argued that the integrity of Mr. Femi Adesina’s, President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, is being eroded on excuse put to defend the gross impunity of this government.