Temitope Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, has denied allegations that he called for the execution of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member Ushie Uguamaye, who recently criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on social media.

Ajayi’s clarification follows public backlash over his earlier remarks, where he stated that the corps member should face the full disciplinary measures outlined in the NYSC code of conduct.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, he wrote:

“If she is not a corper, she can say whatever she fancies like people do per second. Citizens can abuse the living day out of their President or any public official. It is normal.”

He added:

“But a corper violated her oath and code of conduct here. That is capital punishment under NYSC. 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.”

Following widespread criticism, Ajayi released a statement on Monday dismissing claims that he called for the corps member’s execution, calling it a deliberate attempt to twist his words.

He said:

“The mob get their oxygen from misrepresentations and deliberate mischief. I made comments under a post where I advertently wrote that what the lady corper did should attract capital punishment under NYSC, which means her indiscretion should attract the highest punishment under the NYSC scheme.

“The highest punishment under NYSC is expulsion. There was a follow-up comment under the same thread where I provided context for my usage of ‘capital punishment under NYSC’ as a metaphor. The follow-up comment that explained the previous comment was ignored.

“It is common sense that there is no death penalty anywhere as punishment under NYSC law.”