The Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has revealed why it received N120 million from Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) , the former national security adviser.
The association, which comprises of owners of newspapers in Nigeria, was fingered as having received a share of the fund meant for arms deal. Dasuki, who served during the administration of former president, Goodluck Jonathan is being arraigned for misappropriation of $2.1bn meant for the purchase of arms.
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The Punch reports that NPAN said on Thursday, December 17 in a communiqué that it collected the money and distributed to some of its members as an out of court settlement after the military stopped the distribution of some papers in 2014.
NPAN said its members suffered huge losses in sales, advertising revenue and business goodwill when the military seized newspapers between Friday, June 6 and Sunday, June 8, 2014 in Abuja , Oyo, Ondo, Edo, Ekiti, Delta, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Benue, Imo, and Enugu states.
“Amidst this tension, and perhaps to stem the spate of multiple litigation against the security agencies and the Federal Government, the then President Goodluck Jonathan, decided to hold a meeting with the executives of NPAN on June 12, 2014, at the State House, Marina, Lagos.
“At this meeting, the President apologised for the infraction of press freedom and the disruption of the business rhythm of our members. This was well received by our members. In recognition of the President’s gesture, one of our executive officers, Lady Maiden Ibru, spoke in favour of the association dropping the demand for compensation. But because some members wanted to seek redress in court, it was decided to pursue a civil resolution of the matter.
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“All active member newspapers submitted their claims, with some as low as a few hundred thousand naira and others running into hundreds of millions. With no easy way to verify these widely divergent claims, the association leadership accepted the offer from the government, of a flat rate of N10m to each of the 12 media houses affected. The total amount came to N120m. Most of our members duly collected the compensation in good faith. Meanwhile, the cheques for The Guardian, Tribune and Peoples Daily, are still with our secretariat.”
The association said there was no way the members could have known the money was from the illegal arms deal from the office of the national security adviser and assured Nigerians that the trust they have in the association remained intact.
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