Atiku Accuses Presidency Of Attempting To Gag Media

By Ayodele Oni

As onslaught  against  President Bola Tinubu over his educational qualifications continues, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has raised another alarm, accusing the presidency of attempting to sneeze the media.

Atiku, Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) during last election, alleged that there is “perfected, elaborate and sinister plot to gag the media ahead of the release of the records containing his criminal investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”

Atiku in a statement on Sunday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu,  said that this was based on the fact that the Tinubu-led administration has become frustrated with the Chicago State University scandal and was planning a massive offensive in the coming days.

He noted that threat by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to sanction Arise Television News was only a tip of the iceberg, stressing that the same NBC has been watching as Tinubu’s media platforms like Television Continental (TVC) constantly attacks Atiku and has refused to even air opposition views.

According to him; “Back in February, the NBC tried to show a bit of fairness and fined TVC for unprofessional broadcasts including the airing of the Joint media Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council press briefing where Festus Keyamo said Obasanjo and Atiku ran a criminal enterprise, and an empire of fraud in Abuja.

“However, since Tinubu became president on May 29, the NBC has become more partisan than ever. The NBC boss, Balarabe Ilelah, is obviously seeking to retain his appointment and is now dancing to the tune of the APC and their master at the Presidential Villa.

“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.

“The dissemination of this information must not be left to social media alone. The media must rise up to its role as the watchdog of society as enshrined in Section 22 of the 1999 constitution.”

Shaibu said the hypocrisy of the Tinubu government and the APC-led Senate was legendary, saying that a ministerial nominee from Delta State, Stella Okotete, a director at NEXIM Bank, was denied ministerial confirmation over alleged certificate forgery even though the lady in question had tried so much to defend herself.

He therefore wondered why the standard for the President of Nigeria was lower than that of a ministerial nominee and the youngster, Mmesoma Ejikeme, who forged her JAMB results from a third party vendor.

“Okotete claimed to have graduated from Benson Idahosa University in 2007 with a second class lower grade in International Studies and Diplomacy and completed the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) from Kebbi State in 2009.

“However, amid allegations of certificate forgery, the Senate refused to confirm her while the authorities continued to investigate her.

“However, in the case of Tinubu, who holds the highest office in the land, they want Nigerians to overlook it. They are asking Nigerians to focus on governance instead.

“Isn’t it ironic that the bar has been lowered for the office of the President? Is it not mind-boggling that people who would not employ even third glass graduates in their private companies are the same ones now defending certificate forgery? The hypocrisy is indeed disturbing.”