Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has disclosed that his office was not consulted before a Punch reporter, Olalekan Adetayo, was expelled from the Presidential Villa on Monday.
The statement came shortly after the reporter was banished from the State House on the order of Chief Security Officer to the President, Bashir Abubakar, over stories deemed unfavourable to the administration.
Reacting to the expulsion in messages posted on Twitter, Adesina said the media office was not consulted before the reporter was expelled.
He, however, promised that the matter will be settled amicably.
We weren’t consulted in the media office by the CSO before he expelled The Punch reporter. President Buhari is committed to press freedom.
— Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) April 24, 2017
An amicable solution would be found to The Punch reporter matter. President Buhari does not intend to muzzle the media in any way.
— Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) April 24, 2017
Adetayo wrote himself into Aso Rock’s black book over the weekend with two articles on President Muhammadu Buhari’s health.
The first was published on Saturday with the title “Seat of Power’s Event Centres Going Into Extinction”, followed a day after with “Fresh Anxiety in Aso Rock Over Buhari’s Poor Health”
There have been speculations over the health of the President, who was only seen once in public throughout last week, during the Juma’at prayer at Aso Rock.
The cancellation of last week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting and his absence at the meeting two weeks ago heightened fears that Buhari was stricken weeks after he returned from an extended medical vacation in the United Kingdom.
