Why’s Daily Trust risking its credibility spreading lies about ‘endorsement’?
By Jamilu Abdullahi
March 13, 2022
Since the Daily Trust newspaper broke the news of the alleged endorsement of Senator Abdullahi Adamu by President Muhammadu Buhari, the newspaper has continued to fabricate lies in order to justify this claim.
This is in spite of the outright denial of any such endorsement by none other person than the spokesman to President Buhari, Femi Adesina, who issued a statement saying his principal is yet to endorse any candidate.
For a newspaper such as the Daily Trust, the insistence on running an outright lie against the person of the president, marks a departure from the tradition of professional journalism that has been the hallmark of the medium.
Even after Jigawa State governor, Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar, came clearly on the BBC Hausa Service, saying that President Buhari didn’t endorsed Senator Adamu, still the newspaper is bent on circulating falsehood.
If indeed, President Buhari endorsed Senator Adamu for the position of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), then the Daily Trust owes Nigerians the duty to name their source.
Daily Trust can even go further as the pilot newspaper from the North, to reach out to the president directly to hear from him rather than dwell on speculations.
It will definitely impugn on the credibility of the newspaper if, in its desperation to set a particular agenda, the Daily Trust throws caution to the winds.
For a medium that has earned the trust of its readership, the newspaper is risking the erosion of this trust by sticking to a report it has so far failed to substantiate.
It’s unprofessional for a newspaper of standing like the Daily Trust to agree to an unknown source while rejecting statements from known and credible sources like Femi Adesina and the Jigawa State governor.
It’s obvious from the slant and insistence on the purported presidential endorsement that the Daily Trust has already taken side and is bent on forcing a narrative that is more of rumour and speculation but for which the newspaper is futilely trying to propagate in favour of its preferred candidate for the position of national chairman of the APC.
By this singular act, the paper has become not only partisan but has taken the garb of a public relations outfit for Senator Adamu.
As long as there is no official statement from President Buhari, endorsing any of the aspirants running for the position of the national chairman of the APC, the paper will do itself lots of good by remaining neutral and to henceforth desist on circulating rumour and speculation and shamelessly trying to redefine facts.
Abdullahi, a public affairs commentator, writes from Abuja.