Temidayo Ajayi, a media aide to President Bola Tinubu, has sparked outrage by stating that a corps member, Ushie ‘Raye’ Uguamaye, deserves the death penalty for describing the president as a “terrible” leader in a viral TikTok video.
Ms. Uguamaye, who is currently serving in Lagos, expressed her frustrations over the rising cost of living in Nigeria.
However, her remarks did not sit well with Mr. Ajayi, who insisted that corps members are bound by an oath and code of conduct that prohibits such criticism.
“If she is not a corper, she can say whatever she fancies like people do per second. Citizens can abuse a living day out of their President or any public official. It is normal,” Mr. Ajayi wrote on Facebook.
“But a corper violated her oath and code of conduct here. That is capital punishment under NYSC.”
He further stated, “You can’t abuse the country you are serving as a corper under any guise and the symbol of sovereign authority, which is the president. She should be punished to the fullest extent, not just warned.”
Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong has come to Ms. Uguamaye’s defense, arguing that her comments are protected under Nigeria’s constitution.
“Criticising the president or the government is not an offence under the NYSC Act (See Section 13). It is also not an offence under the NYSC Bye-Laws (See Section 4 of the Revised Bye-Laws, 2011),” Mr. Effiong stated.
“I have watched all the videos of this lady that are being debated. There is nothing slightly partisan in her comments,” he added, emphasizing that Ms. Uguamaye was merely expressing her frustrations over inflation, which is a constitutional right under Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution.
Amnesty International, as well as opposition figures Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, have condemned the intimidation of critics, including Ms. Uguamaye.
In her viral TikTok video, Ms. Uguamaye lamented, “I am coming from a supermarket where I went to get foodstuff, and everything has gone up again. It’s just like every single week, prices keep increasing. I want to know, what is the government doing about this increase?”
“If a lot of Nigerians come out and start speaking about what we are going through, maybe changes will be made in the government. I don’t know if there is any other president that is as terrible as you (Mr. Tinubu). But you (Mr. Tinubu) are such a terrible president,” she added.
