The Publisher of ThisDay Newspaper, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, has narrated how he too procured the sum of N670 Million from the embattled former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, saying the money was given to him as part of the payment was for compensation for the bombing of ThisDay offices in Abuja and Kaduna by the Boko Haram in April 2012.
Nduka, who has been invited to questioning by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), in a letter to the Commission, said that he had written a letter to the former President, Goodluck Jonathan seeking for compensation for the bombing of the company and that part of the payments was also for compensation to newspaper companies, following a crackdown on the press by the military which led to seizures and disruption of circulation of newspapers in Abuja in the wake of frequent Boko Haram attacks.
He named the newspapers as “ThisDay, Vanguard, The Sun, The Nation, New Telegraph, Daily Trust, People’s Daily, Leadership, Daily Independent, Tribune, Guardian and BusinessDay.”
Obaigbena is currently the President of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN).
This was even as the meantime, the management of Thisday Newspapers Group has denied allegation by the EFCC that it received suspicious funds from the Office of NSA during the tenure of Sambo Dasuki, adding that all funds received from the office of the NSA “are payments for compensation to mitigate the dastardly Boko Haram twin bombings of the Thisday Newspapers offices in Abuja and Kaduna on Thursday April 26, 2012.”
In its response to a letter of invitation from the EFCC dated 8th November 2015, which was received in its Abuja office on the 8th of December 2015, the management of Thisday Newspapers Group said that during the attack, “four innocent Nigerian lives were lost. Our buildings were destroyed and we lost full colour Goss printing towers and three (3) pre-press Computer-to-Plate and anxiliary equipment and other (in) valuable property valued at over N2.5 billion.”
The response letter to the EFCC invitation signed by Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Thisday Newspapers Group and dated December 9, 2015, said that N150,000,000 + N150,000,000 and N250,000,000 respectively were received in August, November and February 2014 as compensation to mitigate the dastardly Boko Haram twin bombings of its offices as approved by the Federal Government.
Obaigbena who is currently in the United States of America said in the letter to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC that the N100,000,000 and N20,000,000 received in March 2015 was for The Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and 12 newspapers “who demanded compensation for the brutal and unlawful seizure of newspapers and stoppage of circulation by armed soldiers in Abuja and several cities. As President of the NPAN, it was my duty to lead media leaders to hold discussions with President Goodluck Jonathan to avert a class action lawsuit against the Armed Forces and the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
“On both occasions, President Jonathan said he did not wish to lay precedence and in our case, he specifically said there were many victims of Boko Haram. I had to confront President Jonathan on the issue when I learnt of approvals for the reconstruction of the Abuja United Nations Building, since we were the second major organisation to be attacked by Boko Haram after the UN attack. He therefore directed me to meet the National Security Adviser who processed the 3 payments in question.
“Please find attached a copy of our letter to President Jonathan as well as correspondence with the then NSA on the Newspapers’ payment. I will make my way to Nigeria to meet with you should you require further information.” [myad]
