A Nigerian woman has lost her job a week after criticising Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the first lady, Aisha Buhari, on Twitter. In the July 5, 2017 tweet, Bolouere Opukiri described the then-Acting President Osinbajo as ‘a novice’ for travelling out of the country at a time President Muhammadu Buhari was receiving medical treatment in London and tension was flaring between the executive and the legislature.

Senators had criticised Mr Osinbajo’s trip the day before, with Enyinnaya Abaribe of Abia saying it created “a vacuum” that Senate President Bukola Saraki should step in to fill. In another post five days later, Ms Opukiri threw a shade at Mrs Buhari for railing against some ‘hyenas’ and ‘jackals’ within her husband’s inner circle, suggesting that Mrs Buhari might not be as ‘classy’ as former first lady, Patience Jonathan. The two tweets and other similar rants against Buhari administration figures were subsequently chronicled by some pro-government netizens and sent to the presidency. The presidential amnesty office, where Mrs Opukiri worked at the media unit, saw her abuse of ‘government official’ as a threat to national security and summarily dismissed her as recommended by the public service rules. Mrs Opukiri said her dismissal was a violation of her right to free expression as enumerated in the Constitution and vowed to challenge it in court.