APC hits back at Thisday/Arise TV editors, says allegation baseless

December 13, 2022

By Nwafor Sundayhttps://ebc7ec2dd3e3f043cb6e4a2a34ccd9c6.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html?n=0

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, Director of Media and Publicity, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, and Adviser, Media and Communication, Mr. Dele Alake have reacted to the statement credited to the Board of Editors Thisday/Arise Tv.

Onanuga and Alake in a joint statement sent to Vanguard condemned Thisday/Arise Tv Board of Editors and Obaigbena’s submission that they (APC members) want to silence independent media and bully the press ahead of next year’s general election.

In the statement titled: ‘Nduka Obaigbena and his Thisday/Arise news’ hypocritical grandstanding on public morality’, Onanuga and Alake noted that the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY and Arise News Television, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena pretends to be a guardian of public morality in contemporary Nigerian media practice.null

They described Nduka as an unscrupulous hustler and blackmailer who has done tremendous damage to the journalism profession in the country.

Read the full statement bellow:

“Hiding under his media houses so-called Board of Editors, Obaigbena, who is one of the most irresponsible media owners in the country, with scant regard for corporate good governance and ethics, issued a statement Monday accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) Director of Media and Publicity, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, and Adviser, Media and Communication, Mr. Dele Alake of attempting to silence independent media and bully the press ahead of next year’s general election. This allegation is baseless.

“The statement published on the front page of THISDAY  is illustrative of the penchant of  the two media houses under Obaigbena’s corrupting influence to peddle falsehood and engage in brazen political partisanship, contrary to the ethics of journalism practice.

“It is instructive that Obaigbena’s media group is isolated in making this frivolous allegation against the duo. Not only does THISDAY newspaper publish unfounded rumours masquerading as truth, many of its columnists substitute vile and vulgar abuse for sound logic and informed analyses while its television anchors heckle and harass their guests, particularly those of the APC in their jaundiced, flagrantly unprofessional programmes.

“We recall that both THISDAY and ARISE Television sought to bully and compel the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, into attending its Town Hall meetings with presidential candidates, despite the media team’s explanation that it would not attend such programmes organised in a haphazard and uncoordinated manner by individual media houses.

“Each candidate’s campaign team has the right to adopt its own strategies for reaching out to and interacting with Nigerians. As we have repeatedly said, the Tinubu campaign will not succumb to the blackmail, intimidation and harassment of Obaigbena and his media group.

“THISDAY’s attempt in the said statement to justify its false news report on the purported death of one Mueez Adegboyega Akande and the attempt to insinuate mischievously that he died in suspicious circumstances failed abysmally. Rather than apologise for this professional lapse, it resorts to tendentious rationalisations. Its futile attempt to link Asiwaju Tinubu to a drug case in the United States, even when as far back as 2003, the United States government had categorically stated that the candidate has no criminal records in that country, shows the depths of mischief the newspaper is willing to descend  in its bid to bring down the APC candidate at all costs. This campaign of calumny is doomed to fail as it always has.

“Our candidate is focused and will not be distracted by this diversionary tactics to throw mud at him simply because he is the obvious front runner in this race and some believe that the only way to stop him is to peddle falsehood against him.

“While pretending to be a public trust, THISDAY and ARISE descend into the political arena by publishing lies in a way that does such a great disservice to journalism. Last month the paper was sanctioned by NBC over a fake report that INEC had ordered a probe of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over the platforms’ equally fake narrative about our candidate.https://ebc7ec2dd3e3f043cb6e4a2a34ccd9c6.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html?n=0

“Nduka Obaigbena tries to cast aspersion on the professional and personal integrity of Mr. Alake and Mr. Onanuga. They stand on a higher moral and professional pedestal than he can ever aspire to. It is astonishing that a man like Obaigbena can even pretend to be protecting public morality and the public interest. How does this media owner run his media outfits? He is notorious for not paying the salaries of his staff or fulfilling his pensions’ obligations,  forcing most of the journalists in his stable to resort to the most unethical practices to survive. This model of media practice, which he exported to South Africa in 2003-2004,  failed spectacularly as he had to flee that country as a result of his unethical business practices. His short-lived THISDAY left unpaid debts to staff and the printers and the South African tax office.

“He exported the same irresponsible business practice to the UK where he operated his Arise TV as a registered company since 2012. In 2021, judge Raquel Agnello disqualified Obaigbena from serving as a company director in the UK for seven years; in a case brought by the official receiver of the Insolvency Office in the country.

“The application for disqualification was made under Section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 and arose from the compulsory liquidation of Arise Networks Ltd of which Obaigbena was the sole director since its incorporation.