'Don't address me as 'General' again' - President-elect says

As from May 29, 2015, when President Goodluck Jonathan will be handing over power to General Muhammadu  Buhari rtd., the President-elect will cease to be addressed as ‘General,’ an official statement said.

In the communiqué released on Sunday, May 17 by Buhari’s Directorate of Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, he is dropping ‘General’ from his name.

It is a norm that an Army General, in service or retired, is still addressed as  ‘General’ with the prefix or suffix ‘retired’ before or after it - if he is no more in service as in the case of Buhari.

The soon-to-be President, who has said he is a converted democrat, does not want to be associated with the ‘General’ title any longer.

The statement says “from May 29, 2015, the President-elect and Vice-President-elect are to be respectively known and addressed as Muhammadu Buhari, President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria."