National Leader, Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Comrade Joseph Evah has charged the president’s media handlers to exercise caution in how they communicate with Nigerians.
He stated this while reacting to the controversy generated by the removal of the president’s tweet by Twitter and subsequent indefinite suspension of the microblogging platform in Nigeria.
The controversial tweet read: “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
Many critics flayed the presidency for the tweet, saying it was targeted at the South-East geopolitical zone and evoked unpleasant civil-war memories.
Reacting, Evah said that the controversy generated by the tweet was proof that the president’s social media handlers must be careful in how they disseminate information to the public.
He said the president’s handlers were creating problems for him.
“I still think that our President’s Twitter handlers should be more cautious on what they push out. You may find out that Buhari will not tweet such a message on his own, sometimes the president is not aware of such tweets.
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“There are many things they are doing in that Villa that the president is not aware of. His Twitter handlers need to exercise caution sometimes, seeing how the country is going volatile.
“There is need to manage any news, message, information coming from the presidential desk. I can tell you that the president was not aware of that tweet until his attention was drawn to it and they will start damage control.
“I think the president should caution those media aides that do those tweets with his name, they are taking so many things for granted, we should be sincere to ourselves.
“The president should caution those individuals who tweet things in his name that are not his ideology, individuals who create imaginary problems for him where there is none.
“The president I can tell you is not aware, I am not saying may not be aware, but that he was not aware of that tweet because he would not allow it.
“It is like what Akpabio is doing in the Niger Delta, he will just go and tell one of the personal assistants to the president that this is the thinking of the Niger Delta people and they will be pushing the agenda even without the president knowing.
“There is so much deceit over there that a lot is outside the knowledge of Mr. President. They do not have access to the president’s bedroom, but they know people who have such access, those are the people they go and lobby and they come out to say that the president said this and that when in truth the president is in the dark on those issues,” Evah said.