Veteran journalist and publisher, Chief Dele Momodu has angrily replied claims by the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) that he is a servant of former Minister for Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Chief Momodu in an Instagram post on Thursday, described BMO as a bunch of “jobless people” who use the media to attack perceived enemies.
According to him, the BMO accused him of lying about Madueke’s health status in his interview so as to curry public sympathy for her.
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He, however, stated that if President Muhammadu Buhari can be healed of undisclosed sickness which he treated in the UK, so could Madueke could have been healed of cancer after he published the story.
He warned them to stop blaming others for the failure of the current administration but rather focus on fulfilling promises made to Nigerians before the President’s tenure expires.
He concluded by refusing to recant his earlier submission on Alison-Madueke’s health condition as at the time he reported the story, adding that he had proofs on the story and would never descend so low to disseminate false information to the public.
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Read the full statement below:
“My attention has just be drawn to a release by a group that calls itself The Buhari Media Organization calling me a lackey of former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.
“Ever since I interviewed the embattled woman about five years ago, they have been angry and throwing tantrums like babies deprived of lollipops. But my question is who are those calling anyone a lackey? These are shameless vultures who, out of joblessness, turned themselves into attack dogs. Please, show me one of them who can be described as accomplished in any field of human endeavor. Nigeria is the only country where the government wastes scarce resources on parasites who can’t even defend their own existence talk less of a President.
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“What is there to defend in a government that promised so much but delivered so little? I wonder why they blame everyone for their failure and frustrations. I did my job professionally and ethically by interviewing Mrs Alison-Madueke. I stand by my story that she was nursing cancer. They claimed it was false, yet President Muhammadu Buhari had an undisclosed ailment that kept him away in London for months and got healed and returned to Nigeria by the mercy of Almighty God. If Buhari can recover, who says Mrs Alison-Madueke cannot enjoy the same privilege? Or was his sickness or return also fake? But it is in the nature of vultures to run around scavenging for dead bodies. Are these parasitic elements not tired of the surfeit of dead bodies that litter everywhere in Nigeria today? Only vultures take pride and delight in death.
“Let’s now come to the issue of Mrs Alison-Madueke. I’m too hardworking to be the lackey of anybody. I do my job well and assiduously to live on my sweat. I interviewed the former Minister and reported our encounter verbatim. There was nowhere in the story I passed judgment for or against her. They said the story was written to attract pity for her. Should I have written she did not have cancer when I had copious evidence to back her claims? And even if she lied by claiming to have cancer, my job as a reporter was to record and report what she told me since journalists have no means of testing anyone.
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“I’m not the reason the Buhari government has not prosecuted the woman in over five years. While they engaged in media lynching and savoured their campaigns of calumny against every imaginary enemy, they studiously ignored the massive and unprecedented corruption in their own backyard. I remain resolute in doing my job as dictated by the best tenets of journalism. No government would tell me who to interview or not.
“Finally, I will continue to do my job of promoting free speech for every Nigerian, and providing alternative and uncommon information for my readers, using my extensive networks and access to newsmakers. I will never be bullied by some supposed journalists without jobs.”
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