Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity has argued that Kemi Adeosun’s certificate scandal is worse than past views of Dr Isa Pantami on terrorism.

Adeosun, who was the Minister of Finance during President Muhammadu Buhari’s first tenure resigned from her position in November 2018, after she was reported to have forged her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.

Also, Pantami, the current minister of Communication and Digital Economy has over the past week been under fire to resign following the revelation of some extremist comments he made in the past.

But while speaking during a Channels TV programme on Friday, April 23, 2021, Shehu said the presidency’s reaction to the allegations against Pantami would have been different if the minister had forged his certificate.

Although, Pantami has apologised and renounced the controversial comments, saying he was young when he made the comments.

Despite the calls on the president to sack Pantami, the presidency on Thursday defended him, saying the minister is being subjected to a cancel campaign on social media even after he had ‘apologized for what he said in the early 2000s.’

Barely 24 hours later, the presidency doubled down on Pantami’s defence as Shehu suggested Adeosun’s crime was greater than Pantami’s.

When asked why the presidency let Adeosun go but defended Pantami, Shehu said the latter’s case only involved people probing his thoughts and using it against him.

He said, “In the second case which is that of Pantami, you are probing the thoughts, what is called ‘McCarthyism’; you search the inner recesses of the minds of individuals, bring out things they have said or they are about to say or you think they would say and use that against them.

“If Pantami had forged certificate before coming into office, the attitude would have been different.

“We don’t remain in the same position, don’t assume that things cannot change. If the one who created you gives it to you that from being bad, you can become good, what says you should deny some other persons this right?”