December 12, (THEWILL) – THE BOARDS of Editors of THISDAY/ARISE News have accused the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), of attempts to bully independent media organisations in the country ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The THISDAY/ARISE News Boards of Editors made the accusation in a joint statement titled ‘Tinubu and THISDAY/ARISE Media Group and the Attack on Free Speech’.
The Editors condemned what they described as unprofessional conduct, and continuous attacks on the news platforms, by the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC-PCC, Bayo Onanuga, and the Director, Strategic Communication, Dele Alake.
“The more we have ignored them the more they have mistaken our silence for cowardice and continued their unrelentless attacks with virulence, even threatening us with The Nigerian Press Council.
“A Press Council that has been completely rejected by the mainstream independent Nigerian media precisely for this reason: misuse and abuse by an incipient dictatorship.
“They are wrong. Truth and the pursuit thereof, and the reporting of facts are no bias. The duo has taken unprofessionalism, recklessness, picayune politics and blackmail to a new art form.
“After their first press statement, we ignored them; but they authored a second statement, which we again ignored, not wanting to insert ourselves into the political discourse.
“Imagine these insecure duos of Onanuga and Alake already threatening the free press when they are seeking our votes. What will they do if Tinubu was elected President? Kill independent media or take their markets over using the power of the state and replacing them with media platforms they control and which kowtow to them?”, the Editors alleged.
Commenting on drug trafficking allegations against the APC presidential candidate, the editors stressed the need for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to clear the air on the matter.
They also urged the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to publicize their reports on the matter ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“Have the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) investigated this? We need their reports and clarity, one way or the other, in this most important national security question on the 2023 elections with implications for our democracy”, the editors charged.
Tinubu had boycotted the Presidential Town Hall Debates organised by Arise Television and its partners.
The debates have been attended by his counterparts in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, respectively.
The APC campaign council had accused the organisers of the debates of bias against the party’s presidential candidate.
But, in the joint statement, the editors noted that seeking the truth on allegations concerning Tinubu is not biased.
The THISDAY/ARISE News editors further accused the leadership of the APC presidential campaign media team of trying to interfere in the running of the two news organisations.
“We also note that two senior APC campaign officials had separately requested that we move THISDAY Editor and columnist, Shaka Momodu, and The Morning Show co-host on ARISE News, Rufai Oseni, from their current positions to stop the attacks or get reprieve from a future Tinubu presidency.
“The Boards of Editors of THISDAY Newspapers and the ARISE News Channel would like to state without equivocation that we do not fire journalists because of their views.
“Facts are sacred and opinions free is the age-old dictum to which all free-thinking men subscribe. We allow our editors the freedom to air their opinions unfettered and have created The Office of the Ombudsman to take any complaints and discipline any abuse of office by any of our staff members”, the statement said.
The editors noted that the attack on the media intensified since the publication in the THISDAY edition of 18th November 2022, of the death of Mueez Adegboyega Akande, an alleged Tinubu associate, involved in the alleged drug trafficking investigation of the APC candidate in 1993.
According to the editors, the THISDAY report introduced the person that died as Mueez but included a condolence message from the Lagos State Governor to the family of Dr. Kolapo Akande.
While the Editors noted that Mueez, since the publication of the story, Mueez has not disowned the THISDAY report that he was not dead, nor has any of his family members, they said it was curious that it was the APC Presidential Campaign Council that would issue a statement that the person that died was Kolapo, not Mueez.
In a statement he issued on 21 November 2022, Onanuga had accused THISDAY of denigrating Kolapo, a medical doctor and “an Accord Party candidate for the House of Representatives some years back”.
“But a quick internet search showed that the Accord Party candidate in question was indeed Mueez, not Kolapo.
“Where was Onanuga’s professionalism in passing off Mueez for Kolapo? Did he verify his story as a journalist of several decades? Strangely, the trio of naijanews.com, sarconnectmedia.com, kossyderrickent.com, which highlighted the poster in an internet search outline, have since deleted it on their websites.
“What a curious coincidence! Perhaps, Onanuga, the self-assigned publicist of the Akandes, may wish to clarify this. He should also clarify his relationship and the relationship of the APC PCC with the Akandes and why they would issue a statement on behalf of the family. “Or better still, get Mueez Akande to step out, so we can close this matter. We note that the APC campaign council is riled by our report on Akande’s death”, the editors stated.
According to THISDAY/ARISE Board of Editors, with documents already in the public domain about Tinubu’s funds’ forfeiture over a drug investigation in the United States of America, it was important to state that for national security, foreign policy, and national interest, any candidate aspiring to be the president of Nigeria should not shy away from media scrutiny concerning any link with drug trafficking, or be associated with anyone so involved, however, tangentially. They stressed that it was a national security question for which all patriots must seek answers, saying it goes to the heart of the country’s nascent democracy and indeed its political stability.
They also demanded full and complete answers on the entire circumstances leading to the forfeiture.
Insisting that THISDAY and Arise, will not be intimidated by the bullying tactics of some APC campaign officials, the editors said they will continue to be open, unbiased and professional.
“We will continue to be open, unbiased and professional. However, we will not be intimidated by the bullying tactics of some APC campaign officials. As Michelle Obama said in response to Donald Trump, when ‘they (Onanuga and Alake) go low, we go high’, for the greater good of journalism and Nigeria.
“A journalism that holds leaders accountable to the people by always telling truth to power. In the words of Othman Dan Fodio, “Conscience is an Open Wound, Only Truth Can Heal It”, they added.
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