The Special Assistant on Public Communication to the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Phrank Shaibu, on Sunday, alleged that the Federal Government had perfected a plot to gag the media ahead of ‘’the release of President Bola Tinubu’s record by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.’’
Shaibu, in a statement, said Tinubu’s administration had become frustrated with the Chicago State University, adding that ‘’the threat by the National Broadcasting Commission to sanction Arise Television News was only a tip of the iceberg.”
“The NBC has now been co-opted into a grand plot to gag the media over Tinubu’s certificate scandal. Having lost the battle in the court of public opinion, they are now trying to use the powers of the state to browbeat the media into silence. This is indeed shameful for a man who claimed to be a hero of the June 12 struggle.
“But this is not the time for the Nigerian media to show any weakness. The trove of documents that the FBI is set to release this month will expose details of the investigation that tied Bola Tinubu to heroin trafficking,” Shaibu said.
“The dissemination of this information must not be left to social media alone. The media must rise to its role as the watchdog of society as enshrined in section 22 of the 1999 constitution,’’ he added.
But in a swift response, the ruling All Progressives Congress accused Atiku and his supporters of attempting vainly to cause a division in the media.
The APC Publicity Director, Bala Ibrahim, chided Atiku for allegedly failing to live up to the reputation of a statesman.
Ibrahim said, “He (Atiku) has lost at the polls, in the court, abroad and is on the verge of losing to the media. Therefore, he is always in this blame game because he has lost everything, including his integrity.
“What we are saying is that this is a man who has risen to the position of second in command in the country. This is a man who should behave as a statesman and lay the foundation so that he bequeaths to others what can be said to be fair and reasonable. It is not for him to be beating about the bush every time there is an issue and be looking at it from a perspective that is unethical.”
Punch
