APC: Banners mock #BringBackOurGirls
Bothered by the offensive na­ture of #BringBackJonathan 2015 signs and banners dotting Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered their immediate removal.
This is even as the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) lambasted the Presidency for allowing them.. at all, accusing the government of trivialising efforts of #BringBackOurGirls campaigners
But the President has assured all Nigerians and the international community that his administration remains fully engaged with efforts to rescue the abducted Chibok girls and that he will not knowingly promote any actions that will fly in the face of the seriousness of their plight and the anguish of their families. Boko Haram abducted over 200 female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in April this year.
The Presidents’ order followed the WashingtonPost editorial that condemned President Jonathan over a campaign slogan, #BringBackGoodluck2015, in support of his re-election next year.
In the Tuesday’s editorial, titled, ‘This may be the most inappropriate political hostage of the year,’ it questioned the slogan’s similarity with that of the pressure group, Bring Back Our Girls, seeking the rescue of the over 200 schoolgirls.
But in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President said he wholly shares the widely expressed view that the signs which were put up without his knowledge or approval are a highly insensitive parody of the #Bring Back Our Girls hash tag.
He said while he appreciates the enthusiastic show of support for his administration by stakeholders, he condemned the #BringBack Jonathan 2015 signs which made light of the very serious national and global concerns for the abducted Chibok girls.
Meanwhile, the APC has described as a good first step the President’s order for the removal of #BringBackJonathan2015, which is a mockery of the #BringBackOurGirls hash tag that has helped to call global attention to the fate of the over 200 girls.
In a statement issued in London yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party, however, said the President made a mockery of his administration and this country by waiting for an international condemnation of the brazen usurpation of the #BringBackOurGirls hash tag before stopping it.
“Had the US newspaper, Washington Post, not written a stinging editorial skewing the Jonathan administration for appropriating the #BringBackOurGirls hash tag for his re-election, the administration would have continued its brazenness without regards to the feelings of the parents of the girls or indeed the Nigerian people.
APC said belated as the President’s directive on #BringBackJonathan2015 hash tag is, it is a good first step that must be quickly followed by another directive ordering the so-called Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) to immediately stop its rallies that have offended the sensibilities and intelligence of Nigerians.

Jonathan stops offensive campaign signs