Pantami: Why Presidency is backing embattled minister

Amid calls by Nigerians for Minster of Communication and Digital Economy Isa Pantami to resign his office or get fired by the president over his past extremist utterances, the Presidency has made it clear that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration stands with the embattled minister.

The Presidency hinged this position on the understanding that the minister has changed, saying this makes the call for his resignation unnecessary.

It said Pantami’s past comments, made when he was young, have been condemned and the minister has apologized.

A statement signed by Garba Shehu, Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, alleged that the call for Pantami’s sack is not targeted at his past utterances. The statement said it was more about Pnstami’s current job as a minister and was engineered by those who are against the government’s desire to see that Nigerians “are not over-charged or under-protected for those services on which modern life depend”.

“The government stands with Pantami,” Shehu said in the statement.

“Today, there is an unfortunate fashion in public discourse that makes leaders in politics, religion, and civil society liable in the present for every statement they have ever made in the past – no matter how long ago, and even after they have later rejected them.

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“This insidious phenomenon seeks to cancel the careers of others on the basis of a thing they have said, regardless of when they said it,” he said.

Shehu noted that Pantami is currently, subject to a “cancel campaign” instigated by those who seek his removal.

“They do not really care what he may or may not have said some 20 years ago: that is merely the instrument they are using to attempt to ‘cancel’ him. But they will profit should he be stopped from making decisions that improve the lives of everyday Nigerians.”

He said the minister has apologized for what he said in the early 2000s. The views were absolutely unacceptable then, and would be equally unacceptable today were he to repeat them, he said, assuring, however, that Pantami would not repeat them – for he has publicly and permanently condemned his earlier utterances as wrong.

“In the 2000s, the minister was a man in his twenties; next year he will be 50. Time has passed, and people and their opinions – often rightly – change.

“But all discerning Nigerians know this manufactured dispute is nothing to do with the minister’s prior words, but solely concern his actions in the present.

“This administration is committed to improving the lives of all Nigerians– and that includes ensuring they are not over-charged or under-protected for those services on which modern life depends,” he said.

Shehu said the minister has been leading the charge against illegal data deductions and pricing and has revolutionized the government’s virtual public engagement to respond to COVID-19 and save taxpayers’ money; he has established ICT start-up centres to boost youth entrepreneurship and create jobs; he has changed policy to ensure locally produced ICT content is used by ministries, starting with his own; and he has deregistered some 9.2 million SIMs – ending the ability for criminals and terrorists to flagrantly use mobile networks undetected.

“In two short years, Minister Pantami has driven the contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP to more than 18 percent, making it one of the top two playing a critical role in the emergence of the economy from the COVID 19-induced recession,” Shehu said.

“In putting people first, the minister and this administration have made enemies. There are those in the opposition who see success and want it halted by any means. And there is now well-reported information that alleges newspaper editors rebuffed an attempt to financially induce them to run a smear campaign against the minister by some ICT companies, many of which do indeed stand to lose financially through lower prices and greater consumer protections.

“The government is now investigating the veracity behind these claims of attempted inducement, and – should they be found to hold credence – police and judicial action must be expected,” he said.