Presidential Spokesperson, Femi Adesina has described the decision of Punch Newspapers to start using Major General as prefix for Muhammadu Buhari and calling his administration as regime as a testimony to freedom of speech.
He said the newspaper is free to use the title as it was earned by the president during his days in the military.
Adesina, a former president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, said in response: “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.” (NAN)
