![](\"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/storage\/2019\/12\/Major-General-Presidency-drags-Obasanjo-Babangida-Hamid-Ali-into-Punchs.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIn a notice titled \u201cBuhari\u2019s lawlessness: Our Stand\u201d, the Punch, on Wednesday, stated that it will \u201chenceforth prefix Buhari\u2019s name with his rank as a military dictator in the 80s \u2018Major General\u2019 and refer to his administration as a regime until they purge themselves of their insufferable contempt for the rule of law.<\/p>\n
The newspaper made the decision while making reference to DSS non-complaince to court orders on trial of Omoyele Sowore, publisher of SaharaReporters; invasion of courtroom and trial of Shiites\u2019 leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky amongst others.<\/p>\n
Punch said its decision shows its protest against autocracy and military-style repression under Buhari\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
In a statement to DAILY POST on Wednesday, signed by Garba Shehu, President Buhari\u2019s Spokesman, the Presidency, however, claimed that Punch was being partisan, adding that it \u201cnever changed President Olusegun Obasanjo\u2019s title from the President to General Obasanjo, despite the latter\u2019s refusal to comply with Supreme Court judgment, ordering him to release N30 billion of Lagos State local councils funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also wondered why the newspaper did not challenge General Babaginda when he assumed the title of President even when he was not democratically elected.<\/p>\n
The statement added, \u201cThe Punch never changed President Olusegun Obasanjo\u2019s title from the President to General Obasanjo, despite the latter\u2019s refusal to comply with Supreme Court judgment, ordering him to release N30 billion of Lagos State local councils funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen General Ibrahim Babangida who wasn\u2019t democratically elected assumed the title of President, why didn\u2019t the Punch challenge him or address him by any title it so desired?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, IBB closed media houses for several months and years, including Punch.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the paper didn\u2019t stop addressing him as President, despite the fact that he wasn\u2019t elected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is obvious that the Punch newspapers are playing partisan opposition politics which has nothing to do with journalism.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it within the paper\u2019s responsibility or power to change the official title of the man who occupies the office of the President? Does that mean any newspaper is free to address the Comptroller General of Customs a Colonel rather than his official title?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Punch newspaper should separate journalism from partisan politics. What it is embarking upon is purely political and it is designed to play to the gallery and cause confusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cPunch Newspaper\u2019s double standards in cuddling some of our past dictators and their open contempt for President Buhari clearly show that the paper has sinister motives for its current curious editorial judgment. Its personal hatred for and animus towards President Buhari should not be allowed to becloud its good judgment.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Presidency has dragged former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, Olusegun Obasanjo and the Director-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hamid Ali (retd) the controversial change of President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s title by Punch Newspapers. In a notice titled \u201cBuhari\u2019s lawlessness: Our Stand\u201d, the Punch, on Wednesday, stated that it will \u201chenceforth prefix Buhari\u2019s name […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":175350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[2658,41,13781],"class_list":["post-175349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-a","tag-buhari","tag-the-punch"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=175349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/175350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=175349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=175349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=175349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}