The Presidency has maintained its position in support of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami.
Appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Mr Garba Shehu compared the case of Pantami with that of Mrs Kemi Adeosun, a former minister of finance.
Shehu, a spokesman for the President, believes the Presidency would have acted differently if the communications minister had committed forgery.
“If Pantami had forged a certificate to come into office, the attitude (of the Presidency) would have been different,” he said.
The presidential spokesman added, “In the second case which is that of Pantami, you are probing the thoughts and this what Americans have called ‘McCarthyism’.
“You search the inner recesses of the minds of individuals, bring out things they have said, or they are about to say, or you think they would say, and use that against them.”
Adeosun, a Commissioner of Finance in Ogun State between 2011 and 2015, was appointed as the Minister of Finance by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2015.
About three years after serving in the President’s cabinet, the former minister was caught up in a controversy after a report emerged that she failed to participate in the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The report indicated that Adeosun did not only fail to take part in the one-year scheme but also supposedly obtained a fake exemption certificate.
This sparked a widespread call for her removal, forcing the 54-year-old to resign as a minister in September 2018.
Pantami, on the other hand, was widely criticised by various individuals and groups for the comments he made many years ago in support of extremist groups.
Amid the calls for his resignation or removal by the President, the minister renounced his comments and said he was a changed person.
Unlike in the case of Adeosun, the Presidency declared its support for Pantami, saying he was being subjected to a “cancel campaign” instigated by those who seek his removal.
CHANNELS TV
