By Esseh Ikora
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Akwa Ibom state chapter at the weekend, expressed displeasure over media bashing of president Muhammadu Buhari by Mr Essien Ndueso, governor Udom Emmanuel media aide.
Governor Emmanuel’s media aide had over the weekend posted on social platform a comment that portrayed the cows in President Buhari ‘s farm in Daura as faring better than Nigerians.
Mr Ndueso whose comment on the said social media stated that ,”we are in an administration where cows fare better than human being”, also had the photograph of the president allegedly inspecting his cattle farm recently in Daura his home town.
The Chief Press Secretary and Senior Special Assistant to the governor, Mr Ekerete Udoh , promptly dissociated the state government from the comment credited to the governor’s personal Assistant on media,Mr Ndueso.
The statement reads,”we wish to use this opportunity to state categorically that the comment expressed by Mr Essien Ndueso does not represent in any form,shape,manner or appearance the views of the good people of Akwa Ibom state.
” The comment attributed to Mr Ndueso, therefore, are his personal opinion. Even though the nation is going through tough and challenging economic times, we believe and trust the resilience of Nigerians, our ingenuity and innate capacity to reinvent the wheels and together ,in spite of our political differences.
“We remain inexorably tied to our common destiny which requires all hands on deck to move our dear nation forward .”
The APC in their reactions said the comment of governor Emmanuel’s media handler contained hateful and derogatory words meant to assail the person and character of the president.
Not satisfied with the position of the state government as presented to the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, the APC state Publicity Secretary, Edet Bassey stated,”APC is dissatisfied with this lame measure and government response to the consistent media attack of the office of the president and willful attempt to ridicule and denigrate president Muhammadu Buhari.
“We are puzzled by the official disposition of Governor Emmanuel to the president and what seems a good public image of both personalities vis-a-vis the media attack of Udom’s aide on president Buhari.”
The statement further added that the state government cannot deny or shirk its responsibility from the burden it places on its media handlers to be mindful and conscientious in their public communication.
The party maintained that the government’s merely disassociating itself from the statement or the apology tendered by his media aide does not suffice to assuage the contempt brought to bear on the president neither does it extricate the government from culpability in the vicious and tenacious media war targeted at the president by the governor’s media aides.
