Aso Rock has publicly dissociated itself from the #iStandWithBuhari advocacy group and has demanded that the group immediately stop claiming any alliance with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
A statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President, Garba Shehu, Friday, said the Presidency also demanded that the persons behind the controversial group should stop using Buhari’s name and that of his wife, Aisha Buhari, to promote themselves and their activities.
“Among other reasons, we have found it necessary to distance the Presidency from the #Istandwithbuhari group because its premature and ostentatious celebration of the present administration’s achievements is totally inconsistent with President Buhari’s philosophy of service with humility.
“While the present administration has indeed recorded significant successes in its priority areas of improving security across the nation, ending the Boko Haram insurgency, curbing official corruption and revamping Nigeria’s economy, President Buhari is well aware that his government still has a lot of national challenges to overcome.
“The President prefers to give his fullest attention to addressing those challenges without the unsolicited and unwelcome distraction of untimely praise-singing from groups with dubious and questionable motives,” the statement said.
National Coordinator of the group, Mustapha Ramalan, recently resigned from his position citing disagreement over the direction the organisation was going.
“Having led the organization these past couple of weeks, I have reached a hard and inevitable decision of stepping down as its national coordinator with immediate effect.
“If I must lead the organization, I must be convinced more than anyone, on the path we chose for ourselves,” Ramalan said in his resignation letter.
The group, which was planning a nine million man anti-corruption march on March 31, was accused of soliciting for funds from politicians and other interest groups for its activities.
It recently paid a courtesy call on the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, in Abuja.
