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The incident that went down yesterday at Nigeria's State house, Aso Rock, proved to Nigerians that there many people in control of power than President Muhammadu Buhari.
Bashir Abubakar, the Chief Security Officer, CSO, to President Buhari expelled the correspondent of Punch Newspapers, Lekan Adetayo, from the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
Buhari’s media team said that they were not consulted before the journalist was expelled from the presidential villa.
The expelled, but now, recalled reporter, Adetayo, said it was because of a story about Mr. Buhari’s ill health published by his newspaper on Sunday.
The Punch reported that the reporter was summoned by Mr. Abubakar to explain two of his recent stories from the State House.
“He referred to the lead story of SUNDAY PUNCH of April 23, 2017, titled “Fresh anxiety in Aso Rock over Buhari’s poor health” and queried the motive behind it
“He also referred to our corespondent’s column, Aso Rock Lens, published on Saturday, April 22, 2017, and titled “Seat of power’s event centres going into extinction,” The Punch stated in a report Monday evening.
President Buhari’s spokesperson, and media man Femi Adesina, has said his office wasn’t consulted before the expulsion.
“We weren’t consulted in the media office by the CSO before he expelled The Punch reporter,” Mr. Adesina said in a reaction to news reports about Mr. Adetayo on Twitter. “President Buhari is committed to press freedom.”
This is not the first time so much authority are being wield by the powers that be under President Buhari's nose-watch. There have been reports that President Buhari has entirely lost control of his government, with some persons exercising authority more than their office.
The case of the PUNCH reporter is not a security concern that should be handled by the Chief Security Officer, let alone expel him from the State house. It has to the media, and its concerns should be the least worry of the overzealous Bashir.
A recent case: In February 2017, White House excluded several major U.S. news organizations, including some it has criticized, from an off-camera briefing held by the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. Though, like the case of PUNCH reporter, Spicer's decision drew a sharp response from the media outlets across the United States, but the action was not from the Chief Security Officer, it was from the Press Secretary – which in Nigeria's case, should be the Presidential Media Aide.
The non-consultation of the CSO with the Media office shows the laxity in the line of duty and communications in the nation's seat of power. And notably, the singular power-drunk influence of Bashir Abubakar.
Just a brief about him: Bashir Abubakar was appointed as the CSO to the President after Abdulrahman Mani, former CSO was fired by the President over what was described as “shady deals” in fixing appointments and for “undermining” the president. Reports say that Mani committed various misdemeanours and “chief among which was a recent discovery that he was actually the one who leaked Buhari’s itinerary to Diezani Alison-Madueke when he travelled to London in May”. Abubakar was until his appointment, an assistant director in the Bayelsa state command of the Department of State Service (DSS).
Bashir Abubakar, the Chief Security Officer, CSO, to President Buhari expelled the correspondent of Punch Newspapers, Lekan Adetayo, from the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
Buhari’s media team said that they were not consulted before the journalist was expelled from the presidential villa.
The expelled, but now, recalled reporter, Adetayo, said it was because of a story about Mr. Buhari’s ill health published by his newspaper on Sunday.
The Punch reported that the reporter was summoned by Mr. Abubakar to explain two of his recent stories from the State House.
“He referred to the lead story of SUNDAY PUNCH of April 23, 2017, titled “Fresh anxiety in Aso Rock over Buhari’s poor health” and queried the motive behind it
“He also referred to our corespondent’s column, Aso Rock Lens, published on Saturday, April 22, 2017, and titled “Seat of power’s event centres going into extinction,” The Punch stated in a report Monday evening.
President Buhari’s spokesperson, and media man Femi Adesina, has said his office wasn’t consulted before the expulsion.
“We weren’t consulted in the media office by the CSO before he expelled The Punch reporter,” Mr. Adesina said in a reaction to news reports about Mr. Adetayo on Twitter. “President Buhari is committed to press freedom.”
This is not the first time so much authority are being wield by the powers that be under President Buhari's nose-watch. There have been reports that President Buhari has entirely lost control of his government, with some persons exercising authority more than their office.
The case of the PUNCH reporter is not a security concern that should be handled by the Chief Security Officer, let alone expel him from the State house. It has to the media, and its concerns should be the least worry of the overzealous Bashir.
A recent case: In February 2017, White House excluded several major U.S. news organizations, including some it has criticized, from an off-camera briefing held by the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. Though, like the case of PUNCH reporter, Spicer's decision drew a sharp response from the media outlets across the United States, but the action was not from the Chief Security Officer, it was from the Press Secretary – which in Nigeria's case, should be the Presidential Media Aide.
The non-consultation of the CSO with the Media office shows the laxity in the line of duty and communications in the nation's seat of power. And notably, the singular power-drunk influence of Bashir Abubakar.
Just a brief about him: Bashir Abubakar was appointed as the CSO to the President after Abdulrahman Mani, former CSO was fired by the President over what was described as “shady deals” in fixing appointments and for “undermining” the president. Reports say that Mani committed various misdemeanours and “chief among which was a recent discovery that he was actually the one who leaked Buhari’s itinerary to Diezani Alison-Madueke when he travelled to London in May”. Abubakar was until his appointment, an assistant director in the Bayelsa state command of the Department of State Service (DSS).
