The Nigerian Tribune, a newspaper owned by the family of late Nigerian political sage, Obafemi Awolowo, has fired a senior reporter, Olakunle Timothy Taiwo, for concocting an interview with Itse Sagay, a constitutional lawyer and scholar.The paper’s Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief, Edward Dickson, confirmed Mr. Taiwo’s sack in a response to a text from SaharaReporters. Our correspondent had sent a text asking the MD to confirm the authenticity of information that the paper was about to issue an apology to Mr. Sagay and to formally retract the report based on a non-existent interview with the legal scholar.

In a widely circulated report in the paper’s online edition, Mr. Taiwo claimed that Mr. Sagay had reportedly berated President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war. However, in an interview yesterday with SaharaReporters, Mr. Sagay, who chairs President Buhari’s advisory team on anti-corruption, denied that he granted any interview to the reporter or the Tribune. He also challenged the reporter and newspaper to provide proof that he spoke to them.
The Tribune’s MD said he was at the newspaper’s annual general meeting and therefore could not offer further comments on the forged report. However, another source at the paper told SaharaReporters that an editor had also been fired early today over the same scandal.

The Nigerian Tribune is one of the newspapers named as beneficiaries of a payout from funds that were meant for the purchase of weapons to fight Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram. The revelation of a widespread dole-out of cash to media groups, including the Tribune, is part of a growing financial scandal involving former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (ret.). Mr. Dasuki is accused of diverting more than $2 billion budgeted for the purchase of weapons for the Nigerian military. Much of the looted defense funds were then shared among officials of the then ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) for campaign purposes.
n addition, Mr. Dasuki funneled billions of naira to Raymond Dokpesi, proprietor of African Independent Television (AIT), and Nduka Obaigbena, owner of Thisday newspaper. Mr. Obaigbena also became the alleged conduit for distributing cash to at least 12 newspapers, according to findings by agents investigating the NSA’s illicit disbursements of defense funds.

something is not right about this...poor guy is in the middle of a power play.

Poor guy indeed. Maybe he has collected his brown envelope. I just cant imagine if he is under pressure to submit reports, if that's so, one can only imagine what banks marketers will be doing to meet their unholy targets.

Sue d newspaper for Damages.. next time there staff will. Not come up wiv fake stories

Dem no go tell us when them hire the guy back. Drum no fit play hin sef.

Yoruba people can lie for Africa.
after sahara reporters fear Tinubu's Nations newspaper, all of them can Lie.

Nnemuka:
Yoruba people can lie for Africa.
after sahara reporters fear Tinubu's Nations newspaper, all of them can Lie.

Wetin this one dey talk sef

Shame on the guy. In addition to sacking him, NUJ should also impose a heavy sanction on him. If possible, he should be blacklisted and barred from practising as a journalist again.

All hail Sahara reporters

Nnemuka:
Yoruba people can lie for Africa.
after sahara reporters fear Tinubu's Nations newspaper, all of them can Lie.

Lol....mumuemeka mental patient

Fake guy. Not surprised, he looks g&y.

Nnemuka:
Yoruba people can lie for Africa.
after sahara reporters fear Tinubu's Nations newspaper, all of them can Lie.

Something you lot celebrated and created dozens of threads on has now become a Yoruba thing since it has backfired!!

It is the same way you people would suddenly remember Fayose and FFK are Yorubas when they stop greasing your egos and cursing the president.

Shame on you.

Lalastical Lala front page please.













WAITING FOR ARSENAL VS MANCITY

Still waiting for the day corruption will end in this country, until then may we continue to catch them one by one.

idu1:
Wetin this one dey talk sef

wetin she dey talk be say..

Yoruba people sabi lie well well

F22RAPTOR:
something is not right about this...poor guy is in the middle of a power play.

I agree. There's more to this story than we've been told. I strongly suspect this gentleman is taking the fall for someone else.

Nnemuka:
Yoruba people can lie for Africa.
after sahara reporters fear Tinubu's Nations newspaper, all of them can Lie.

Ode oshi.

F22RAPTOR:
something is not right about this...poor guy is in the middle of a power play.

Grass suffers when Elephants are flexing muscles

I'm conVINCed this guy is 100% innocent. The truth no matter how long will surely be made public someday. Apc CHAIN

Nnemuka:
Yoruba people can lie for Africa.
after sahara reporters fear Tinubu's Nations newspaper, all of them can Lie.

Stop being tribalistic

Nnemuka:
Yoruba people can lie for Africa.
after sahara reporters fear Tinubu's Nations newspaper, all of them can Lie.

tell us o Mrs tribalist n uneducated wailing wailer which lies Tinubu's nation n sahara reporter don lie? n if u can't mention them , hmmm God fgv yr hateful heart!

criminalmindz:
I'm conVINCed this guy is 100% innocent. The truth no matter how long will surely be made public someday. Apc CHAIN

criminal mind indeed! I shouldn't expect anything less.

criminalmindz:
I'm conVINCed this guy is 100% innocent. The truth no matter how long will surely be made public someday. Apc CHAIN

criminal mind indeed! I shouldn't expect anything noble.

Meiji:


I agree. There's more to this story than we've been told. I strongly suspect this gentleman is taking the fall for someone else.

Itsey sagay granted interview or not? there is no third angle to it. Tribune has been PDP ed for more than a decade, time to purge it .

APC, I hail o. Awolowo and APC are family business

You have turned On your Bluetooth again, what if you hear from the guy or he's innocent

seunmsg:
Shame on the guy. In addition to sacking him, NUJ should also impose a heavy sanction on him. If possible, he should be blacklisted and barred from practising as a journalist again.