#PantamiResignNow: Buhari’s aide poses with the Communications Minister in a portrait of unity.

By theGazetteNGR

Editorinchief

Posted: April 18, 2021 at 8:28 PM, Updated: September 21, 2022 at 7:44 AM

Pantami could not be trusted with Nigerians’ info, according to the Nigerian Twitter community

Bashir Ahmad, the President’s Personal Assistant for Digital and New Media, posted a solidarity photo with Isa Pantami, the embattled Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, on social media on Sunday.

On Sunday evening, Ahmad posted a picture of himself and Pantami at an event in Abuja to his checked Facebook profile.

Though the presidential aide did not caption the photo, several of his supporters have since commented ‘Thank you for the unity’ and ‘#PantamiWillStay’ in the post’s comment section.

Ahmad’s Facebook post comes after days of uproar on social media about the communications minister’s previous inflammatory remarks about jihadist organisations including Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Pantami later apologised for his militant pro-terrorist remarks, saying he now understands better, but Nigerians have been unrelenting in their demand for the minister’s dismissal. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party has also called on President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to fire Pantami if he does not willingly resign like Kemi Adeosun, the former Finance Minister. The PDP also requires the Department of State Services to investigate the minister of communications.

Pantami could not be trusted with Nigerians’ info, according to the Nigerian Twitter community, particularly with the ongoing National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module integration exercise under his supervision. As of the time of filing this article, the hashtag #PantamiResignNow was trending on Twitter, with over 40,000 tweets.

Ahmad has not made a definitive statement on the Pantami saga, however he has retweeted a range of pro-Pantami tweets, including one from @IAmSoosy on Sunday, who said,

â€œThis whole Pantami resigning issue is questionable. It starts with false allegations, it didnâ€™t work then you start digging his past. Seems like someone/some people are desperate to find him at fault. Why now? What happened? Why him all of a sudden? Is it because of NIN?â€ says the narrator.