The Board of Editors of This Day Newspaper and Arise Television on Monday, December 12, 2022, said it has received two separate requests from top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign organisation to lay two news reporters off their positions.
The News Reporters: APC asked that the board move This Day Editor, Shaka Momodu, and The Morning Show co-host on Arise News, Rufai Oseni, from their current positions “to stop the attacks or get a reprieve from a future Bola Tinubu presidency”.
What the board said: In a joint statement titled: “Tinubu and ThisDay/Arise Media Group and the Attack on Free Speech”, the media organisation said they would not give into pressure from the ruling party, APC.
“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 a reprieve from a future Tinubu presidency.
“The Boards of Editors of This Day 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,” Arise TV’s statement reads in part.
What you should know: The editors pointed out that personal attacks (on both reporters) intensified since the publication in the Thisday edition of 18th November, 2022 of the death of one Mueez Adegboyega Akande, a Tinubu associate mentioned as being involved, by US authorities, in a drug trafficking investigation of the APC candidate in 1993.
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