Chief James Ibori has urged journalists to stop maligning him almost on daily basis in a statement he released. Ibori has particularly condemned the bare-faced lies, that some journalists and news organisations, especially an online news medium, have continued to heap on him.
He said: “What makes it galling is that the matter under contention was the Department of State Security’s report that stopped the Senate from confirming Mr. Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and did not warrant the dragging in of Ibori’s name at all. Yet, the online publication went wild all the same, making baseless accusations aginst Ibori, though it had said it was checking the facts in DSS’ allegations.
“Specifically, on “Allegation One: That during the tenure of Farida Waziri as EFCC chairperson, sensitive documents were found in Mr. Magu’s home”, the online newspaper wrote: “The facts do not support that claim. A reporter for this newspaper extensively reported that event in 2008 when it happened, and is familiar with what transpired at the time.’
“Ibori is not concerned with the fact that the publication chose not to cross-check the facts but rested on answers a journalist got almost a decade ago, and he did not say how he acquired that information, no, that is left with the readers to worry about. What Ibori finds irresponsible is what follows: “Based on pressure from political gladiators of the period (among which were former Governors James Ibori and Bukola Saraki), then President Musa Yar’Adua unceremoniously removed Nuhu Ribadu as chairman of the EFCC.’
“Mr. Nasir el-Rufai has exposed this claim as a terrible lie. In his book, The Accidental Public Servant,” he stated the source of the trouble he and Ribadu had with the late President Umar Yar’Adua.”
