BEVERLY HILLS, January 30, (THEWILL) – There seems to be no end in sight to the simmering crack in the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, as the management of Leadership Holdings Limited, publishers of Leadership newspapers, has returned the N9 million it received from the embattled former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki, through the association as compensation for the seizure of its publications in 2014.
The company, in a letter dated January 29 and addressed to the General Secretary of NPAN, explained that it decided to return the money after some senior officials sidestepped the association to direct their organisations to refund the compensation received from the government even though it was agreed that they committed no offence by receiving the compensation.
It specifically named the chairman of Daily Trust newspaper, Kabiru Yusuf, as the high-ranking member who “dishonourably” went behind the decision of the association to direct his newspaper to refund the money.
NPAN had received N120 million from the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in June 2014 as compensation for the seizure and stoppage of circulation of members’ newspapers by armed soldiers in Abuja and other Nigerian cities.
Some of the 12 newspapers, which allegedly got the compensation, dissociated themselves from the payments. They include: African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, publishers of the Tribune titles; Peoples Media Limited, publishers of Peoples Daily; Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited, publishers of New Telegraph, Saturday Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, and Independent Newspapers Limited, publishers of Daily Independent newspapers.
The Sun newspaper had earlier in December returned its own share of N9 million, while the Punch Nigeria Limited had in the same month resigned its membership of the association pending when critical issues raised over the N120m NPAN got from Dasuki are resolved. It noted that “The source of this money and the manner of its receipt, allegedly through a company called General Hydrocarbons, which is unknown to NPAN, have raised public concerns about the integrity of the Press in Nigeria. The unfolding scandal has equally cast a shadow on the reputation of the mass media.”
But the Leadership Newspapers Group Limited in the letter entitled Re: Compensation for illegal seizure of newspapers and signed by the Group Managing Director, Mike Okpere, said: “We refer to the above subject matter and enclose herewith a Zenith Bank draft no 08549695 for the sum of N9,000,000.00 (Nine million Naira only) being refund of the compensation paid by the Goodluck Jonathan government for the crude and illegal seizure of our newspapers over a period of 5 days by soldiers from the 6th of June to the 10th of June 2014 through the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN).
“It will be recalled that this was the sum paid to all newspapers which incurred losses as a result of the act which was arrived ay when President Jonathan pleaded for an out of court settlement.
“It has come to our notice that the chairman of Daily Trust, Malam Kabiru Yusuf who was acting president of NPAN/chairman of the meeting held at Mr. Sam Amuka’s guest house in Lagos in December 2015 where it was agreed, after a detailed analysis of the situation that NPAN and the newspapers committed no offence by the out of court settlement and therefore had no reason to refund the compensation, has gone behind the association’s back and directed the Daily Trust to refund money.
“After such a dishonourable act by the one person under whose direction members of the association all agreed that there would be no need to refund the money, it is our view that it is no longer tenable not to refund. This is particularly more discomforting when it is recalled that the decision to agree to the out of court settlement and compensation was taken at the Abuja office of Daily Trust with Kabiru Yusuf in attendance. It is for this reason that we are refunding the N9 million.
“But we will like to maintain the general position that neither the NPAN nor newspaper committed any offence. Our chairman has also made it clear that he does not see any situation where LEADERSHIP will be part of any group that will take the current government to court.
“Therefore we should be counted out of any future decision to seek redress in court on this same matter. After all it is not the government that asked us to refund, it is the treachery of some of our members.
“Kindly be advised accordingly.”
Leadership newspaper, which is owned by Sam Nda-Isaiah, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is the third known beneficiary of the compensation given by Dasuki to return its share of the money. It had been reported that Vintage press Limited has returned the N9 million it received as compensation for the seizure of copies The Nation and SportingLife in June, 2014.
It reportedly explained this thus: “We do this for two reasons. First, to restate the sequence of events that culminated in the payment , thereby debunking insinuations about the motive for the compensation. Second, to inform the public that the N9 million collected from NPAN on behalf of the Jonathan government has been returned to the association.”
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