I expected him to read the post and then come back with a stronger (or more believable excuse or) reason to want to have his account ban lifted 

All of us know that unless a member is contributing positively in the technical boards where their posts are considered valuable whether they participate in a signature campaign or not, it would make sense for them to want to have any ban lifted but other than it seems it is all about trying to enrol on a campaign as soon as possible.