Atiku complains to BBC over its ‘false’ report by Tinubu hirelings
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lodged a complaint with the BBC over its report which claimed there is no evidence in the Chicago papers that the certificate Bola Tinubu presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was forged.
The story, published on Wednesday, was written by three Nigerian journalists working with the BBC, which Tinubu and his loyalists have latched on to and trumpeted like a lifeline without calling it “foreign interference” in a case that is now at the Supreme Court.
The three Nigerian BBC journalists are Chiagozie Nwonwu, Fauziyya Tukur, Olaronke Alo. One of them, Alo, previously worked with Television Continental (TVC) News, which is owned by Tinubu, who also owns The Nation newspaper.
Alo anchored at least two programmes – Fashions Finest Africa and WakeUpNigeria – on TVC before she joined the BBC.
This background has prompted allegation by Atiku that Tinubu slithered into the ranks of the three Nigerian BBC journalists and bought them to launder his dented image, a common occurrence in the local media.
Tinubu through his lawyers had in US courts vehemently opposed the release of his CSU academic records, arguing that releasing them would cause him “severe and irreparable harm.”
The BBC claimed in the report that, based on its fact-checking, there is no evidence Tinubu forged the CSU certificate he presented to the INEC as alleged by Atiku and confirmed in the court deposition made by CSU Registrar Caleb Westberg on October 3.
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Related articles:
CSU deposition shows why Tinubu forged his certificate
Atiku warns Tinubu scheming media gag over Chicago papers, FBI documents
Tinubu in more US bombshells as FBI begins release of 25,000 documents on him this month
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BBC allowed a hatchet job on its platform, Atiku protests
Atiku announced on Channels Television through his Media Aide Phrank Shaibu that he has petitioned the BBC top management over the report, per Daily Trust
“When they said a report by the BBC, I laughed at the level of pedestrianism. The three young people who wrote that report are not even in the employment of the BBC. They are just like a fact-checking team,” he explained.
“Let me take one of the authors of that report, Olaronke Alo. As of 2019, she was a reporter and presenter at TVC owned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We don’t need the services of a clairvoyant to know how the stories were put together. The first paragraph will tell you they got the true certified copy of the position from Frank Shaibu. One of the reporters asked me for it and I sent it to her.
“The same report claims that when they tried to reach the Atiku media team, we did not respond. This we have taken up with the top management and we have written a petition to the BBC because they allowed their platform to be used for a hatched job like this.”
