The federal government has issued a statement apprising Nigerians on how President Buhari should be addressed at formal functions henceforth.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, gave the directive in a circular sent to ministries, departments and agencies of the federal government.
The circular reads;
“Government has observed with concern the inconsistent manner in which the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria is addressed during Official and Private functions. It has therefore become necessary to have a standard format for addressing him at such formal occasions.
To this end, Mr. President shall henceforth be addressed as ‘‘MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.’’ except in purely Armed Forces Programmes, where “COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA” will be added. All concerned persons should accordingly be guided and ensure strict compliance with the contents of this Circular.”
This new directive indicates the president, though a retired major general, is not to be addressed by that military rank at formal functions.
This comes after the report some days back that the President will soon announce whether or not he will be running for a second term.
Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha said he hopes that President Buhari’s decision will be favorable as himself and the APC governors believe Nigeria will be better for it if President Buhari continues in office.
“We discussed so many issues that affect the nation, our party and Mr President’s ambition to run for 2019 elections. Anyhow, Mr President in his usual manner has requested that we give him time and that he will address the nation and the caucus of the party very soon. So we should be full of expectations that Mr President will make officially known to Nigerians his intentions. But we hope that his response will be in line with what the governors are thinking. We believe that if he continues Nigeria will be better for it.” he said
