Ex Lagos Speaker, Ikuforiji, Calls For Due Diligence In Modern Journalism

Lagos state in the last couple of weeks has been embroiled in protracted political quagmire which to a large extent has threatened to erode the exemplary disposition that the state and its political gladiators have come to represent in Nigeria’s democratic sojourn.

From the media war and slew of corruption levelled against the state assembly speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, to the dissolution of political groups in the state by a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, due to an alleged imbroglio between him and his protège, Rauf Aregbesola.

However, the media onslaught and litany of financial impropriety against Obasa takes preeminence over other political intrigues and activities in the state as it is believed to rob of negatively on the entire party and major actors.

Many political commentators and analysts have share their views on the said allegations and how the culture of corruption and impunity has become ingrained in our political consciousness.

A popular and feisty columnist with PUNCH, Abimbola Adelakun, wrote a trenchant and scathing article titled ‘Obasa should have confessed”. She also made allusion to the fact that the Lagos assembly is notorious for sharp and corrupt practices.

To corroborate her claims, she made reference to corruption allegations against the immediate past speaker of the assembly, Adeyemi Kuforiji. She averred that just like his successor, Kuforiji was also entangled in “litany of corruption” allegations.

But in rebuttal, Ikuforiji set the record straight for Adelakun, he did not only clear the air on erroneous assertions by Adelakun but also admonished her not to hide under the cloak of journalism to vilify, malign and besmirch politicians reputation.

The rejoinder from Adeyemi Ikuforiji to Adelakun’s “Obasa should have confessed” is reproduced below. 

“Just because something isn’t a lie does not mean it isn’t deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar. But one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction”

– Criss Jami

The essence of the media is to inform, educate, promote justice and to be the voice of the voiceless. In fact, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in recognising the nobility of this responsibility guarantees freedom of the press and expression in Section 39. No contemporary society can pride itself as democratic if this basic right is missing. But when these noble functions are entrusted in the wrong hands, the results are often despicable and society may well be on its way to chaos if not utter destruction. For when media practitioners deviate from the path of discipline and begin to court cheap fame and national (or perhaps international) applause by vilifying the reputation of innocent men and women in the name of journalism, society can (in the least) be said to be treading the path of irreparable damage.

On May 28, 2020, the back page of The PUNCH carried an opinion piece headlined: “Speaker Obasa could have confessed’’, wherein a certain Abimbola Adelakun embarked on adventure of name-calling and libelous claims against many politicians in Lagos State including myself in the name of writing a column on the recent allegations of corruption levelled against Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa (the incumbent Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly). This rejoinder is a response to Ms Adelakun’s calumny and baseless accusations, which obviously are intended to cast a vile aspersion on my person for reasons best known to her.

In the preceding paragraph of the aforementioned article, Abimbola wrote:

“Only a court can pronounce Obasa guilty of all the financial rascality he has been accused of, but I am certain of two things: First, there is no politician who would be falsely alleged of corruption that would not be righteously indignant enough to confront their accusers and prove them wrong. They would present valid receipts, extract an apology, and demand indemnity from their traducers…”

Thus, while Abimbola acknowledges the constitutional responsibility of the court to declare anyone guilty or not, she also seems to believe that her gut or instinct supersedes the law; hence, her declaration of certainty over what the reaction of a politician will be to an allegation regardless of court verdict. Abimbola is right about one thing though: “A falsely alleged politician will confront their accusers, prove them wrong, extract an apology and demand indemnity from their traducers.”

I am not shocked that the average Nigerian on the street today distrusts the government. Our political leadership trajectory has given the common man no reason to trust the leadership of this country at all levels. But this is not a licence to legitimise libel, especially without proof of such demeaning claims regardless of your instinct or gut. While your instinct may be a credible authority in your domestic affairs, I doubt it will receive any credence in state affairs. This is a simple human and professional ethics that one does not have to study journalism before it sticks. Never try to destroy someone’s life with a lie when yours could be destroyed by the truth.

In the eighth paragraph of the said article, Abimbola wrote:

“Even the Speaker before Obasa, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, faced a litany of corruption scandals for a while but he has yet to be undone. What would be different this time?”

A litany of corruption scandals? Abimbola seems not to bother herself with authoritative backup of her libelious claim. My guess is: Abimbola must be thinking, since Ikuforiji is also a politician, he must be corrupt! But what are the bases for this “litany of corruption scandals” alluded to by Abimbola? I challenge Abimbola to come forward with the merit of this claim. I have nothing to hide throughout my tenure as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly. I fulfilled my constitutional duties to the best of my capacity. And if anyone will call to question my integrity based on the work I have done for the public, such should be done on facts not frivolous presumptions. It is on record that in my decade-long leadership of the Assembly (the longest so far in Nigeria’s chequered political history), there was not a single moment when the House was riddled in a corruption scandal or even political upheaval which is a common trademark of parliaments across the globe.

Also Read: Corruption Allegations: ‘He Followed Due Process’ — Lagos Assembly Clears Obasa

In 2010, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission did charge me with “…accepting cash payment above the threshold (N500,000:00) from the LSHA without going through a financial institution and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(a) of the money laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004”. Any objective observer of the case would have noticed that I was not charged for any form of misappropriation of public funds, stealing or embezzlement. The concern of the EFCC was that many transactions during the period were cash-based and not that the books didn’t add up.

Needless to say that this legal issue was exterminated in 2014 after a “NO CASE SUBMISSION” was upheld by the Federal High Court. Upon the EFCC’s appeal and our follow-up counterappeal to the Supreme Court, the court in January 2018 ordered the commencement of the matter de novo and therefore the case is currently subjudice.

And by the way, a matter that is subjudice (still before the court) is under judicial consideration and therefore prohibited from discussion anywhere else, especially in the media. Won’t any ethical journalist with a shred of integrity know this?

So, where is Abimbola’s “litany of corruption scandals?” To make a ridiculous claim like this is a dent on the integrity of the media. Bad journalists are worse than thieves. They steal another person’s dignity, honest reputation and credibility which are impossible to restore. So, remember this: When your feet slip, you can always recover your balance but when your tongue (or pen) slips, you cannot recover your words.

This is not Adelakun’s first time of making erroneous claims against my person.

She once misinformed the readers of her column that the Lagos Assembly’s annual Islamic New Year celebration was a frivolous spending and a way of sidelining Christians (although she’s known as an atheist). She failed to mention that during Adeyemi Ikuforiji’s tenure, the House of Assembly never failed to celebrate its annual Thanksgiving during which high calibre and notable men of God of the Christian fold were invited as Guest Preachers and Ikuforiji played his role as Chief Host. Both celebrations helped to ensure religious cohesion not only among the staff of the Assembly but also among Lagosians and friends of the Assembly.

In paragraph six of the said article of May 28, 2020, Abimbola also declared that the “Lagos APC itself is a congress of hustlers whose incestuous political relationships have become a curse on the destiny of the state. Many ‘party stalwarts’ would not have been promoted to the key offices they occupy if not for their roles in helping to bury bodies”. Haba! Can Abimbola substantiate this heavy allegation?

I am convinced she has been metaphorical in referring to party stalwarts’ roles in “helping to bury dead bodies”. However, this forces one to ask, when did the agenda-setting role of the media begin to negate the principles of accuracy, objectivity and precision?

Also Read: ‘His Friends Are Fronting As Investigators’ — Group Rubbishes Probe Of Obasa

The writer is neither a politician nor adequately well-acquainted with the Lagos APC to claim with such veracity that it is “a Congress of hustlers”. Whatever she meant by “hustlers” -Is it as in the film by Lorene Scafora or the Nigeria common use of the word? If she’s talking about hustlers as commonly used, then she needs to be educated. I had my second Master’s degree in 1986. I was a banker, a lecturer (Networking Technology at Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina, USA) and a business man before I ventured into politics. The Grand Patron of Lagos Politics that she sarcastically referred to as the idol and godfather was a Certified Public Accountant and was Treasurer of a multi-national corporation (Mobil) before going into politics; Otunba Femi Pedro, a former deputy governor was an accomplished banker and a Managing Director of a Nigerian bank; Babatunde Raji Fashola was an SAN before he became governor of Lagos State; my predecessor in office, Senator Mamora is a medical doctor; I can go on and on. Abimbola’s brief reportorial stint at the Lagos State House of Assembly does not qualify her to pass malicious judgment on the Lagos APC, which continues to work tirelessly to build an egalitarian society. Irresponsible journalism is as much of a problem as political recklessness.

We do more harm to our already staggering system when we crucify the innocents with the criminals. Are there bad eggs in Nigeria’s political system? Yes. Perhaps, too many. But to cast a stone at the few who are doing their best to make a difference is not the way to go. If it does anything at all, it weakens the will of the good ones and validates the boxes of the bad ones. This is not the first time that some bad eggs in the media will try to ruin the good works of other great journalist out there.

Ikuforiji is Speaker Emeritus, Lagos State House of Assembly

PUNCH.

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