Imo assembly summons publisher over story against lawmaker

The Imo House of Assembly has summoned the publisher of an online newspaper, Nigerian Watchdog, over a report against a lawmaker in the state.

The publisher, Precious Nwadike, was accused of publishing an allegedly defamatory story against Ikenna Ihezuo, the lawmaker representing Orlu State Constituency.

The house summoned Mr Nwadike who is also the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, in response to a complaint by Mr Ihezuo at the plenary in Owerri on Thursday.

A lawmaker in the House, who asked not to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Ihezuo complained to the assembly because he believes the publisher colluded with his political opponent to write a “defamatory” article against him.

Summon

“I wish to convey to you, the Imo State House of Assembly resolution No 55 passed during its sitting of Thursday 6th June 2024,” a letter addressed to the publisher reads in part.

The Clerk of the House, Chinelo Emeghara, signed the letter.

“During the said sitting, the House resolved to invite you to its Executive Session on Tuesday 11 June 2024 at 10 a.m. to brief the House on the publication of the Nigerian Watchdog Newspaper dated 4 June 2024 against the honourable member representing Orlu State Constituency, Hon. Barr. Ikenna Ihezuo,” Ms Emeghara, a lawyer, said in the letter.

The report

In the report published by the Nigerian Watchdog Newspaper, the Chairperson of the All Progressives Congress APC in Orlu Local Government Area, Stanley Nwosu, was quoted as saying that he prevented the lawmaker from diverting 65 bags of rice released by the state government as palliative for the Orlu State Constituency.

The newspaper did not mention Mr Nwosu’s name in the report but only identified him by his titled name, ‘“Ochinanwata” and his position as APC chairperson in the council area.

The paper also added the reaction of the lawmaker, who described the APC chairperson’s allegations as “lies.”

Not the first time

This is not the first time authorities have targeted a journalist over reports critical of politicians and high-placed individuals in Nigeria.

In one of the recent cases, the police summoned a PREMIUM TIMES reporter, Emmanuel Agbo, over a yet-to-be-published report that he was working on.

In another case, the police detained the Executive Director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Dayo Aiyetan, and an investigative journalist with the platform, Nurudeen Akewushola, for over nine hours.

Both journalists honoured the invitation of the police and arrived at the Nigeria Police Force -National Cyber Crime Centre office at noon on Tuesday but were held and only released after 9 p.m.

ICIR had raised an alarm on the detention of the duo, which prompted journalists and activists to take to social media to berate the police and call for their immediate release.

Mr Akewushola said the police claimed they had received a petition, in which he and the ICIR were accused of “cyberstalking and defamation”, a familiar accusation used by Nigerian authorities to clamp down on journalists and activists.

The police, on 1 May, detained Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, for 10 days after he was “abducted” by officers in Lagos State, South-west Nigeria.