The management of First News online newspaper has apologised to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, over a news story published on its platform on January 29, 2024.
The story written by the medium’s editor, Segun Olatunji, was entitled, “How Gbajabiamila attempted to corner $30bn, 66 houses traced to Sabiu.”
The First News Management, in a statement on Wednesday, May 8, said it had discovered the said story contained “falsehoods and fabricated stories handed out to us as facts by a misleading source which was highly negligent on our part and for which we deeply tender an unreserved apology to the Chief of Staff to the President.”
“As a responsible media organisation, we wish to state very categorically that we have no malicious intent towards the person of the Chief of Staff to the President or his office. Hence, our decision to tender an unreserved apology and the need to publish a retraction of the said story.”
Segun Olatunji was arrested and detained in an underground cell by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
The Publisher of FirstNews Online, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the case has been settled out of court.
Olatunji was abducted in his home in the Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area of Lagos state in March, eliciting wild condemnation from the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and International Press Institute (IPI).
The management of the online Newspaper initially linked the action to a recent story published by FirstNews titled, “Revealed: “Defence Chief running an office like a family business – Public Interest Lawyers”, but later knew it was the anti-Gbajabiamila story. (Premium Times)
