Ngozi James
A group of Nigerian students under the aegis of the Nigerian Youth and Students Coalition for Good Governance (NYSCGG) has urged on President Bola Tinubu to stand firm and not bow to pressure especially from politicians to sack competent government appointees for the benefit of a few.
The group in a statement on Monday, applauded the President’s refusal to sack the CEOs of federal government agencies and parastatals, despite pressure, noting that government is a continuum that shouldn’t be disrupted to please desperate politicians.
“We call on President Bola Tinubu to ignore all the fake and sponsored news targeted at government officials in the last few weeks by desperate politicians”, the Friday Okoli, National President of the group stated
The Coalition decried that some groups has propagated malicious allegations against several government officials to tarnish their reputation and hinder their work in the nation.
“We firmly reject any claim made by the Coalition of West African Investigative Journalists suggesting some government agencies have been engaged in unethical or illegal activities. These accusations are unfounded, lacking any substantial evidence or credibility.
“We are deeply concerned about the impact of such false accusations on this country. We urge them to reflect on their actions and consider the potential harm they are causing to Nigeria and the Tinubu-led administration”, Okoli said.
The full statement read:
Thank you for joining us today. We have invited you to this press briefing to address a matter of utmost national importance regarding the recent activities of a hurriedly established phantom group called The Coalition of West African Investigative Journalists (COWAFIJ).
We have gathered here today to shed light on the deplorable actions undertaken by this organization, which we believe to be rooted in blackmail and a series of blatant lies.
Over the past weeks, the group has propagated malicious allegations against several government officials to tarnish their reputation and hinder their work in this nation. With great disappointment, we bring to your attention their baseless accusations and attempts to manipulate public opinion for their gain.
First and foremost, we firmly reject any claim made by this group suggesting some government agencies have been engaged in unethical or illegal activities. These accusations are unfounded, lacking any substantial evidence or credibility. These accusations are part of a grand plan to arm-twist President Bola Tinubu and disrupt governance under his administration.
Moreover, we find it essential to highlight that the allegations put forth by this group are nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to extort and blackmail government officials. Their actions demonstrate a complete disregard for the truth and a clear intention to damage the reputation of government officials in the All Progressives Congress-led government for their agenda.
To put it properly in perspective, the convener of the so-called Coalition of West African Investigative Journalists, Gboyega Adeoye, is a failed journalist, sacked a few years ago for dragging the reputation of his former workplace to the mud. He has since set up a failed news website to continue his ‘brown envelope-inspired Yellow journalism’ and to continue defrauding unsuspecting victims.
We are deeply concerned about the impact of such false accusations on this country. Adeoye and his fake organization have shown a lack of integrity by disseminating these lies. We urge them to reflect on their actions and consider the potential harm they are causing to Nigeria and the Tinubu-led administration.
Therefore, we call on President Bola Tinubu to ignore all the fake and sponsored news targeted at government officials in the last few weeks by desperate politicians seeking to undermine the APC-led government for their gains.
President Tinubu’s refusal to sack the CEOs of federal government agencies and parastatals, despite the immense pressure from career politicians, indicates that the President is well aware that government is a continuum and can’t be disrupted to please desperate political hawks.
We call on the President to stand firm and resist attempting to heat the polity by sacking competent government appointees to please a few people.
We thank you for your attention today and will now take a few questions from you.