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The presidency has replied Punch newspaper after publishing an editorial that President Muhammadu Buhari would henceforth be referred to as General Muhammadu Buhari and his administration referred to as a regime.
The presidency in a statement by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President Buhari on Media and Publicity said “rather than being pejorative, addressing President Buhari by his military rank is another testimony to free speech and freedom of the press”.
Punch, in the editorial titled: Buhari’s lawlessness: Our stand, maintained that Buhari’s government has flagrantly disobeyed court orders and arbitrarily detained citizens reflecting the true character of a military regime.
“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.
“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 statement by Femi Adesina read.