A current social media spat involving activist Aisha Yesufu and President Bola Tinubu’s aides has escalated, following Yesufu’s criticisms of Tinubu at a current worldwide occasion.
The controversy started when Yesufu alleged through Twitter that President Tinubu was snubbed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa throughout an inauguration occasion following his re-election.
In her tweet, Yesufu claimed that President Tinubu had been “disgraced and shunned,” sparking a flurry of social media reactions.
The presidency shortly issued a response by means of Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, who described Yesufu and her followers as “an uncouth horde of pessimists,” additional accusing them of bitterness stemming from their candidate’s third-place end within the 2023 elections.
Onanuga criticized Yesufu for her hasty judgment and persistently unfavorable perspective towards President Tinubu, contrasting this with the behaviour of supporters of the second-place candidate within the elections.
The Senior Particular Assistant on New Media to President Tinubu, O’tega Ogra, additionally joined the rebuttal, accusing Yesufu of “crass ignorance” and of actions aimed extra at gaining social media traction than partaking constructively.
Ogra took pains to refute particular allegations made by Yesufu concerning the incident on the inauguration occasion, mentioning factual inaccuracies in her statements.
Onanuga acknowledged, “Aisha and her uncouth horde of pessimists are all the time fast to hurry to judgment with any whiff of what seems to them to be unfavorable to the chief of Africa’s largest democracy. Greater than a 12 months after the 2023 election, through which their candidate got here third, they continue to be incurably bitter and poisonous, greater than the supporters of the person who got here second.”
Equally, Ogra stated, “Aisha, have the constitutionally assured proper to precise your self, however your constant show of crass ignorance and shameful habits, seemingly geared toward garnering likes and retweets, within the title of your disdain and hatred (which you profess at any given alternative) for Nigeria is shameful to say the least.
“For the file: 1. That first row at at present’s inauguration was reserved for South African kings/royalty. 2. The South African President wasn’t anticipated to begin greeting dignitaries on the time of the video you shared and he was respectfully recalled to the rostrum by the inauguration compere (see video beneath). 3. Instantly after President Ramaphosa completed the anthem, he went forward to greet the visiting presidents who have been all seated within the second row (much like the way in which visiting presidents have been seated within the third row throughout Nigeria’s personal inauguration on Might 29, 2023…).”