This Day replies Sowore

This Day replies Sowore



Dear Mr Sowore,

Again, you publish false reports against me without even attempting to get your facts right as you have all my contacts.

You are wrong. I do not do anyone's bidding: I have never, will never collect funds from James Ibori or anyone for that matter to influence , covertly or overtly, publications in any media. Throughout the eight years Ibori was governor, I never participated in or secured any contracts from Ibori or his government beyond the normal placement of advertisements in THISDAY newspapers which is a right of all. Aside from being a proud citizen of Delta origin and a friend of the former governor, am not a financial beneficiary of his government, and have never been. And their is no journalist who can say I tried to influence him/her one way or the other to publish any stories on Ibori. If you have any shred of evidence, bring it on!

And you are again wrong when you repeat your lies in SAHARA REPORTS
that I collected N3.2billion to assist Presidenrt Yar'Adua for his elections in the media. As I said before and I repeat now, I have never collected any funds from Yar'Adua or the PDP for any matter whatsoever, howsoever. AND I have never spoken to any journalist to influence publications,one way or the other, on PDP,Yar'Adua or any political party. If you have any shred of evidence, bring it on!

When you consistently and maliciously publish falsehood against me, you leave me with no option than to seek legal redress. I had reconsidered this line of action because I felt (that despite of the defamation), you were a young man whose journalism should not be silenced given my own career starting up a major news magazine with 300 staff members at age 26 against all odds.

But when you continue to fabricate stories against me and now expand your lies to THISDAY operations in South Africa we will take every legal step to protect ourselves as I am not, and have never been wanted, "sought" or even questioned by SA authorities. AND for what???

For legitimately investing in their country and creating jobs? The last time I was in SA I was a guest of, and had a meeting with President Thabo Mbeki in Cape Town last year. That certainly is not a privilege given to fugitives from the law.

Futhermore, THISDAY does not owe any pensions to any staff or authorities in SA as we reached settlement with all when we elected, on our own, to suspend the publication following an unfavourable business climate in 2004. We owe no banks in SA or your so called "15 investors" which may exist only in your imagination.

Your cocktail of lies and falsehood will not stand. You are advised to retract them immediately. You earn respect by truthful, courageous journalism, not by lies and fabrications as we have been consistently commended by EFCC for standing up on the side of truth and probity.

When EFCC is wrong, we say so and when they do well we commend them so what's our business intervening for or against EFCC through your imaginary "close-knit" Kitchen cabinet?

Finally, it's a matter of public record that since 1995, staff of THISDAY have been invited by government's at all levels and across political parties to hold public appointments. This will not be the first or last. We believe journalist have a role in public service and will continue to release our journalists for service, whether you like it or not.

And you know what? It's a vote of major confidence in our robust journalism that governments at all levels continue to look to us for critical technocrats in the service of Nigeria.

Many thanks,

Nduka Obaigbena

The ball is now in your court, Mr Sowore, the man says bring it on!

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I have just received the following comments to this post and I found it as alarming as it was revealing. It was irresistible for me not to share same with the reading public. I cannot vouch for the author as it was posted anonymously or do same for its truthfulness or otherwise neither does it represent our personal views on the matter.


anonymous said...

Let me tell you, I live in South Africa and we know Nduka here. Since the man ran into financial troubles with his 'show boy' newspaper investment here, he has been running from pillar to post looking for financial succour. It is a well known fact that he was working Ibori for financial gains during his tenure as governor and when Ibori ran into trouble with EFCC it presented the perfect opportunity for him to exploit that situation. He knew Ibori had become a raging bull approaching the china shop when his assets were frozen by London court and today that thief has spent nothing less than 750 million naira in trying to pull EFCC down. The escalating militant crisis in Portharcourt, Rivers state is the doing of Ibori and Odili in their mad bid to destabilize the Delta region and whip Yar'Adua into line. Billions of naira belonging and stolen from my people is now being applied to make the Delta region ungovernable and they are there trying to frame Rotimi Amaechi who is not on the ground. These people are mad men!

Back to Nduka. He is telling us he met with Mr Mbeki in Cape town last year, is the seat of the South African govt in Cape town? What was he doing with Mbeki in Cape town? Were they avoiding prying eyes or was he at his usual trade of supplying women of quick and easy virtue to South African top govt officials, he should tell us. He is saying he did not owe anybody, so what was he settling in South Africa? When you say you reached settlement it means there are aggreived parties and the settler is the appeaser.

Nduka is a really bad boy. It has always been his way to play two parties against each other. He did it against Babangida and Dele Giwa, supplying false information and back biting Dele, it has always been his style. And then after all that, money suddenly appears for him to set up news magazine when he was 26 years old, Nduka where did you get the blood money from? You should have just shut up your mouth because people will expose you very soon. It is a known fact that even before 1995, as he claimed, that he was always hustling govt. He is the one that lobbies to secure appointment for his moles to get political and government appointments so that he can get blackmail information to use. He is a spy, and a very dangerous one, and if he has been meeting with Mbeki secretly in Cape town then he has must have been passing sensitive information to the South Africans, there is no doubt about this in my mind. He is as useless as Ibori but from another angle. We Deltans know ourselves and Nduka is one person I happen to know very well.

Thank you.

1:11 PM