Claim by Presidency that a recent report by Guardian newspaper captioned: ‘Misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices’, is published to incite the public against President Bola Tinubu’s government has provoked reaction from the publisher.
The story published on October 26, 2024, highlighted the current economic challenges facing the country.
“It openly incites unrest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration and advocates regime change under the guise of journalism.
“…the inflammatory headline and content deviate from responsible reporting,” Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy had said in response to it.
The Guardian, in a counter-statement dismissed Onanuga’s assertion, saying: “The story is a factually balanced, dispassionate, well-researched and intensive report chronicling Nigeria’s civilian administration from inception to the current state of affairs, without any atom of hateful or inciting elements, remarks, innuendoes, and or connotations against the national and sub-national governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The publication simply aggregated the concerns of Nigerians across all classes on the troubling state of the nation with the expectation that the government will take the necessary steps to address the challenges. There is nothing in the report that advocates, propagates, endorses or suggests a military overthrow of the current government, as suggested by the Special Adviser.”