ICC Integrity Rating: Concerned Citizens questions interest of media regarding Kano politician’s claim
A Concerned Citizens Group has welcomed the investigation journalism carried out by the Daily Trust over recent claim by House of Representatives member from Kano State, Honourable Abdulmumin Jibrin, that President Muhammadu Buhari was the only world leader invited by International Criminal Court (ICC) to give a keynote address at his 20thanniversary.
The Daily Trust had reported on Monday that the ICC had denied the claim.
The group in a statement by Mr. Wale Ogunyemi, an economist in Lagos, however, queried what the interest of the media organisation was, considering the fact that many lies have been told by people who have ganged up against President Buhari and “doing well government” bothering on corruption and killings, which the media failed to investigate and report the truth back to the yearning Nigerian public.
Mr. Ogunyemi noted that Nigeria would not have been in state of confusion over the issue of corruption and killings if the media had done the proper investigation, particularly, to help the people build their confidence at a time they became apprehensive when the media joined the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in tagging President Buhari and the Nigerian Armed Forces the killers of other Nigerians being the President is a Fulani man.
He said the same media, even when it became clear to any layman where the unfortunate killings were coming from, that they not only failed to do further investigations and help expose the wicked sponsors of the killings and the elements they used as tools in the heinous activities but also they deliberately avoided deserving coverage of the successes the security forces were achieving in the arrest and prosecution of those killers.
“Even at a time it became clear as per the disclosure that what the media tagged “herdsmen killings” actually happened as a result of activities of some corrupt politicians trying to escape their being brought to justice by discredit the President, APC and the party ahead of 2019 elections, they still failed in their investigative journalism.
“It is therefore suspicious why they have suddenly picked a political statement made by Honourable Abdulmumin Jibrin as subject of investigation and are now reporting it as a big crime has been committed by the Muhammadu Buhari Administration telling the world that he was rated highest in integrity by the ICC. I’m sorry my brother, this is where you media people have continued to disappoint us the concerned Nigerians,” he said.
The Daily Trust, according to the concerned citizens, reported the “so called” investigation of the Jibrin’s claim “in a way that one would suspect that the reporter was actually sponsored to work on that Kano Federal lawmaker’s claim to expose Buhari, which earns us nothing”.
Another member, Mr. Doyin Fusika aid, “Not even the reference made to Lauretta Onochie post on the same Jibrin’s claim makes any sense to us.
“You media people that do not know anything about workings of security but still go ahead and take position on security thereby plunging us into crisis situation as a nation based on lies, you cannot now come and tell us anything about issue of mainly diplomacy between Nigeria and the Netherlands and you want us to believe you. Although your media is not the one but we thank Daily Trust for that clarification but they should help us in a more relevant investigation by exposing the corruption politicians who are killing Nigerians and tagging it on President Buhari,” they said.
