Epia is a politician hiding under journalism, says Hon Nwulu
- The publisher of a news website recently raised an alarm over threats to his life and those of his colleagues
- Oke Epia, publisher of OrderPaper Nigeria, accused a former member of the House of Representatives, Tony Nwulu, of trying to harm them
- Nwulu, 40, who represented Oshodi-Isolo II constituency in the 8th National Assembly has denied the reports
A former member of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Tony Nwulu has denied media reports suggesting he is using the Nigerian police to attack or persecute Oke Epia, the publisher of OrderPaper.
Epia raised an alarm over threats to his life and those of his colleagues allegedly issued serially by Nwulu.
In a statement released to the media, he said himself and other journalists in the media organization have received threat calls directly from Nwulu and strange calls and text messages from persons some of whom refused to identify themselves.
According to him, the strange encounters with the politician started on Sunday, July 21, when the former lawmaker posted unwarranted, grave and unsubstantiated allegations of extortion and blackmail against the organization on social media over a publication he disagreed with.
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OrderPaper had in a report prior to the 2019 general elections profiled members of the House of Representatives vying for either governorship or deputy governorship positions.
The report, which OrderPaper described as an “objective assessment” of Nwulu’s records at the National Assembly claimed it queried Nwulu over “his missing funds and projects for zonal intervention (constituency projects) in the 2016 budget.”
Nwulu had disclaimed the report, describing it as baseless, faceless and defamatory. He then proceeded to report the matter to the police.
The Nigerian police invited Epia for questioning on Tuesday, July 30 over what it described as ‘criminal complaint’ lodged against the journalist by Nwulu. Epia says the invitation is part of attacks on his media house by Nwulu.
But in a statement he issued on Wednesday, July 31, Nwulu said the defamatory report about alleged “missing funds” was sponsored by his political detractors in the run up to the Imo state gubernatorial polls in which he contested as a governorship aspirant.
He noted that Epia is not a journalist but a political hatchet man simply doing the bidding of his sponsors under the umbrella of the press.
“Epia has been whipping up sentiments, hiding under the false allusion that he is a journalist and tagging media houses both locally and abroad. But the truth is, he is not a journalist.
“He is a politician that has held political office as the chief press secretary to Emeka Ihedioha, the incumbent governor and my rival during the last governorship elections in Imo state.
“I have a lot of respect for journalists and the media as the fourth estate of our democracy, especially in the face of the risk that they undertake on a daily basis to keep us informed.
“Rogues claiming to be journalists must be identified and shamed. Some are nothing but grant hunters that set up projects to defraud unsuspecting development partners and NGOs,” Nwulu stated.
On why he involved the Nigerian police, Nwulu said he was simply exercising his constitutional rights as someone who has been defamed under the guise of “journalism.”
“I reported this issue to the police because of the weight of the allegations made against me. These allegations were unsubstantiated and no responsible media house anywhere in the world should use words like “missing funds” without any shred of evidence to back up such claims.
“It is against the tenets of professional media practice. It is a common principle of law that he who alleges must prove,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Senator Ademola Adeleke has described the Supreme Court judgement exonerating and clearing him of all charges of certificate forgery “as a final vindication from months of tortuous persecution, blackmail and smear campaigns.”
A statement made available by the spokesman of Adeleke Campaign Organisation, on Thursday, July 25, by Mr Rasheed Olawale indicated that “Adeleke has been receiving several messages of felicitations from well wishers from within and outside Osun state.”
The apex court had dismissed the appeal filed by the appellants against the Court of Appeal judgement that ruled in Adeleke's favour establishing the fact that he did not forge any certificate nor did he make any false declarations.
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