Between Dabiri And Pantami

Between Dabiri And Pantami

The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and former House of Representatives member, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, last week had a Twitter spat with the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, over an alleged forced eviction of NIDCOM staff from their office at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Their disagreement started after Dabiri-Erewa, in a video posted on NIDCOM Twitter account accused Pantami of ordering armed men to chase away her workers from their office. She claimed the office was obliged them by the Nigerian Communications Commission and lamented that the tools of her staff had been locked up. In a series of tweets that later ensued, she accused Pantami of being disrespectful to women.

But the minister, in his reply said, “This is a fat lie from her. The owner of the building @NgComCommission has faulted her lies on their social media platforms. The minister has never given that directive to any gunman. We need to be very objective in reporting. I have never sent any gunmen there, and I have no one,” he wrote.

It is however rather disturbing that two appointees of the federal government would go to the ‘village square’ to settle scores, when they could have reached compromise on their own or at the very least, report to higher authorities. The sad thing is that this is becoming a pattern in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration as his appointees continue to show lack of discipline and camaraderie. Ultimately, it’s a leadership challenge.

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