Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami, has vowed to drag major newspaper publishers to court for publishing defamatory story against him.
Some newspapers had on Sunday reported that Pantami had been placed on terror watch-list for alleged ties with Boko Haram.
On Monday, one of the papers that published the story, NewsWireNGR, did a retraction, saying that it launched an independent audit to evaluate the story and found that there was no direct attribution by the said United States Government agency to the minister.
The retraction by the paper titled, ‘RETRACTION: Publication of ‘Sunday Independent Story’ alleging Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Sheikh Isa Pantami placed on Terror watch-list for alleged ties with Boko Haram Leader’, read in part:
“Dear Readers,
“Several concerns have been raised with respect to the veracity of the story alleging Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Sheikh Isa Pantami being placed on Terror watch-list for alleged ties with the late Boko Haram Leader Muhammed Yusuf in our publication.
“We launched an independent audit to evaluate the story and found that there was no direct attribution by the said United States Government agency and we do apologise to our readers for re-publishing the report and also to the person of Sheikh Isa Pantami, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications. The video embedded in the story where the Minister and the late leader of Boko Haram revealed that the minister and the late Boko Haram leader were in a heated debate. Sheikh Pantami in the video disagreed with Muhammed Yusuf’s position, insisting that Muslims should enrol in schools and equally participate in democratic governance. However, Yusuf argued to the contrary with little evidence from the Qur’an and Hadith which he relied on.”
In his response on his Twitter handle, Pantami accepted the retraction and apology by the paper but vowed to sue publishers of major newspapers that reported the story.
Pantami said, “@NewsWireNGR, your RETRACTION through your independent investigation, has been noted. However, investigative journalism requires the investigation before publishing, not after.
“Further, major publishers will meet my lawyers in the court on this defamation of character.”