Once again ,Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo –Iweala has refuted a story by Saharareporters against her.In a statement titled “Saharareporters Lies Again”, the minister said a report that she forced Thisday publisher to sack an editor was false
Paul Nwabuikwu,the minister’s special adviser who issued the statement said, “Earlier today (September 10, 2013), Saharareporters published a scurrilous and totally false story titled “Nigeria’s Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala Forced THISDAY Publisher to Sack Editor” on its website.
“The report claimed that the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called the Publisher of THISDAY Newspapers, Mr Nduka Obaigbena last Saturday to demand the sack of the Saturday Editor of the paper, Mr Laurence Ani over a story she was allegedly unhappy about.
According to Okonjo Iweala’s aide “It further alleged that as a result of the action, the editor was asked to go on compulsory leave.
“The story is a total fabrication. The alleged conversation did not take place. In fact the minister was on a flight on her way back from the United States on the day in question. In other words, the details of the story do not exist outside the warped imagination of Saharareporters.
The minister’s aid claimed that “The Publisher of THISDAY has indicated his willingness to confirm that she did not at any time reach out to him on any such issue or make any such
demands as alleged.
“This story is the latest salvo in a campaign of falsehood which Saharareporters has waged against the Coordinating Minister on behalf of its pay masters.
“We are certain that the campaign will fail because it is founded on falsehood and Nigerians can see through the antics of this disreputable medium.
