‘Regime Change Accusation Against The Guardian Is Unfounded’

 The Guardian newspaper is alarmed by the State House Press Statement issued by Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy on October 26, 2024, on the newspaper’s lead story titled ‘Misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices’, published on Friday, October 25, 2024.

In the statement, the Spe­cial Adviser claimed that the newspaper, by its news report “openly incites unrest against President Bola Tinubu’s admin­istration and advocates regime change under the guise of jour­nalism.” Mr Onanuga added that “the inflammatory headline and content deviate from responsible reporting.”

We are most surprised by this grave allegation and hereby reject the Special Adviser’s asser­tion which is a patent misrepre­sentation of the newspaper’s re­port. Contrary to the assertion contained in the press statement, the story is a factually balanced, dispassionate, well-researched and intensive report chroni­cling Nigeria’s civilian admin­istration from inception to the current state of affairs, without any atom of hateful or inciting elements, remarks, innuendoes, and or connotations against the national and sub-national gov­ernments of the Federal Repub­lic of Nigeria. The publication simply aggregated the concerns of Nigerians across all classes on the troubling state of the nation with the expectation that the gov­ernment will take the necessary steps to address the challenges. There is nothing in the report that advocates, propagates, en­dorses or suggests a military overthrow of the current gov­ernment, as suggested by the Special Adviser. It is necessary to restate The Guardian’s philos­ophy as an independent newspa­per that owes allegiance to no po­litical party, ethnic community, religious or other interest group. Its primary commitment is to the integrity and sovereignty of the Federation of Nigeria. As depict­ed by its logo, an ancient Egyp­tian symbol for conscience, and motto: “Conscience Nurtured by Truth”; The Guardian, has for more than 40 (forty) years proactively demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the promotion of intellectual ex­cellence, balanced coverage of events, consistently upholding the interests of justice, equity, fair play, the rule of law, pur­suing integrity in public life, advancing the best interests of professional ethics and respon­sible journalism, in Nigeria, Af­rica and globally, anchored upon principles of Truth, Accuracy, Objectivity, and Accountability.