Presidency fights to save Pantami as Reps plan debate

The Presidency may have dismissed the likelihood of firing Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

The Presidency disclosed that the trials of Pantami were not about his past statements, but about his present employment as a minister.

This is precisely as the House of Representatives declared that members were prepared to discuss the matter around the minister.

The Presidency in a statement, on Thursday, stated that the trial of Pantami in the hands of those calling for his sacking was not about his past statements but about his present job as a minister.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, announced the standpoint of the Presidency in a statement tagged, ‘Statement by the Presidency on recent campaign against the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.’

The Presidency associated itself with the compliance of the besieged minister that he was young when he uttered those words and that his position had since reformed.

The statement read in part, “The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim 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.

“The minister has, rightly, apologised 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. But he will not repeat them, for he has publicly and permanently condemned his earlier utterances as wrong.”

The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu, in a statement released on Thursday stated that the house would debate the matters around Pantami when it was appropriately presented.

The statement read, “The House will hear Rep Elumelu’s call for Pantami’s resignation when it is properly presented before it.

“The House is aware of several publications on online and traditional media claiming that the Speaker of the House, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, blocked a motion by the Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, purportedly demanding the resignation of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.”

Kalu further said, “For the avoidance of doubt, the House is guided by the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives (House Rules) in its operations and administration. In this case, the Minority Leader should have known better than to present such an issue for debate via Order 6 of the House Rules which only applies to Legislative Privileges.

“It is, therefore, pertinent to inform Nigerians that the House has not acted in error, but in line with the provisions of its rules. All insinuations that the House did not allow democratic debate to take place on the important issue of Pantami’s resignation are simply untrue.

“As always, the House stands ready to give audience to Rep. Elumelu or any other member of the House on this issue, provided that such audience is sought through the proper channels and brought under the relevant rules of the House.”