The Federal Government has said it would use every lawful means to seek redress in the court of law against the Daily Trust, accusing the newspaper of recklessness and irresponsible reporting by linking signing of the Samoa deal to promoting LGBTQ in the country.
The Federal Government also said it would lodge a formal complaint to the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) Ombudsman.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja at a joint briefing with the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu to shed light on Samoa Agreement.
Dateline Nigeria reports that the Samoa Agreement was signed by Nigeria on June 28, 2024 at the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.
“We are alarmed by the level of reckless reporting and statements by some media organisations and individuals that border on national security and stability.
“While we sometimes view and treat those occasional reporting as part of media’s normal work, we have now seen a pattern that is difficult to be wished away as normal journalism.
“The insidious and inciting publications by the Daily Trust these past months have come across as nothing but a deliberate effort to brush the government with a tar.
“On many occasions we have restrained ourselves from believing that this was the case but the consistency of the jejune and mischievous publications leaves us with no option.
“In the aftermath of the coup in Niger Republic, Daily Trust championed a jaundiced narrative that the Federal Government was driving the country into a war and twisted it with regional sentiment to cause disaffection.
“The same newspaper gave a banner headline to a baseless accusation that the Government was working on citing foreign military bases in the country. Neither Daily Trust nor originators of that imaginative allegation provided any shred of evidence.
“Then just two weeks ago, Daily Trust concocted and popularised a lie that the Federal Government had renamed the Murtala Mohammed Expressway in Abuja to Wole Soyinka Way.
“In all those instances all that the paper depended on were falsehood and hearsays. They also showed no remorse or the humility to recant.
“We however did not envisage that Daily Trust and people behind it could descend to the reckless level of attempting to set the country on fire by falsely accusing the government of signing a deal to promote LGBTQ.
“We found that despicable and wicked because the allegation is nowhere in the document signed. Surprisingly, the paper put forward no evidence nor provided the agreement allegedly signed to prove their point.
“The baseless and sensational story unfortunately formed a basis for khutba (sermons) by some of our respected imams who were misled by the story thereby raising tempers,” the minister said.
Idris added that “On the part of the Government, we continue on the honourable path of civility by restraining ourselves from taking self-help or draconian measures. While past governments clamped down on the media for infractions much lower than this, we are however toeing the path of civility and the rule of law.”
After inviting the Minister of Budget and National Planning Atiku Bagudu to provide more clarity on the Samoa agreement, Idris added that that “But beyond this, the Federal Government is lodging a formal complaint to the NPAN Ombudsman on this irresponsible reporting.
“In addition, the Federal Government will use every lawful means to seek redress in the court of law.
“The Federal Government once again restates its friendly policy towards ethical media and free speech. We would however not take fake news and disinformation that would injure the peace of our country and it’s national security lightly.”
