Immediate past Petroleum Minister of State, Timipre Sylva on Friday gave the Sahara Reporters seven days ultimatum to retract a report linking him to thuggery in Bayelsa State.
In a statement signed by Sylva’s Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Julius Bokoru, the former Bayelsa State governor, said his attention was drawn to a video circulated by the online news platform Sahara Reporters, alleging that a thuggery attack on a traditional chiefs’ meeting in Bayelsa State was orchestrated by him.
The statement said: “Even those that are trying to connect this act to the former governor know that it is false.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. As a chief; the former governor of Bayelsa State and former minister of state for petroleum, Sylva has consistently eschewed violence in all its forms.
“As governor, Sylva played a pivotal role in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, which successfully brought ex-militants out of the creeks and ushered in peace in the Niger Delta, thereby maintaining respectable oil revenue.
“His governorship remains the most peaceful in the state’s history. It is perplexing, therefore, that Sahara Reporters would seek to portray Sylva as violent person without any tangible evidence”.
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The statement said there was no way the viral video could be linked to Sylva, who was in Abuja at the time the incident happened, adding that the culprits had no known affiliations with him or his supporters.
It said: “One wonders what investigative rigor Sahara Reporters employed to arrive at such a verdict.
“While Nigerian journalism has made significant strides, Sahara Reporters, owned by a serial presidential candidate, has unfortunately regressed.
“It has become a tool for targeting innocent Nigerians at the behest of anonymous parties.
“Other reputable media houses in Nigeria would reject such a hatchet job, as evident in media algorithms.
“Sahara Reporters has devolved into a rogue outfit scavenging for scraps and clients with ulterior motives.
“This is a far cry from the standards of the Nigerian press. The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) should address this anomaly masquerading as a media unit.
“Chief Sylva gives Sahara Reporters seven working days to offer a public apology, rephrase their post, or defend their position in court”.
