Astha Rajvanshi, a Times reporter, has come under fire for writing the citation of Bola Tinubu, the president-elect of Nigeria, in the 2023 issue of the magazine’s 100 most influential people.
Gatekeepers News reports that Rajvanshi described Tinubu as a “longtime political power broker”, who has had nearly two decades to prepare for the presidential election and is “aware of his inheritance”.
But at the release of the magazine’s issue on Thursday, several Nigerians, particularly supporters of Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), known as Obidients, subjected the journalist to intense criticism.
In reaction to the trolling on her timeline, Rajvanshi resorted to locking her account on Twitter but the trolling continued on her Facebook and Instagram pages.
Rajvanshi was accused of laundering the image of Tinubu, while some others called her “the promoter of a man that rendered families hopeless due to heroin trafficking”.
See some tweets below:
Despite the criticism, Tinubu’s supporters have hailed his inclusion on the list as a validation of his leadership and political influence, both in Nigeria and on the global stage.
While some Nigerians felt the reactions from Obidients were too harsh.
A tweep; Emeka Azuka Okoye @EmekaOkoye said, “Dear #ObiDients, Attacking Astha Rajvanshi was uncalled for and unnecessary. She didn’t do it because she doesn’t like Nigeria. The bigots lobbyists sold the idea to Time Magazine. We should have just educated her with all that has been going on. This was just not right IMHO (in my honest opinion).
Meanwhile, another Twitter user, Tosin Hexemty @Hexemty1 cautioned, “Okay now; I think the “Obidients” needs to be cautioned and sensitized appropriately. Bcos why do u have to go hard on anyone that has a contrary opinion to yours. Don’t people especially of the press reserve/have the right to carry out their assignment again?!”
On March 1, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu, candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the presidential election.
Tinubu polled 8,794,726, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had 6,984,520 votes to come second, and Obi placed third with 6,101,533.
Not satisfied with the outcome of the election, Obi and Atiku went to court to challenge the result, alleging irregularities by the electoral commission.
Meanwhile, the tribunal is yet to hold its first sitting to start the hearing into the matter of the 2023 presidential election.
