September 21, (THEWILL) – A Coalition of Activist-lawyers, civil society organisations as well as leaders of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities have raised the alarm over an alleged international media war against Nigerian energy giant, Aiteo and its founder, Mr. Benedict Peters.
Coming under the ages of Lawyers for Human Rights and Justice (LHRJ), and Council of Ethnic Youth Leaders of Nigeria (CEYLN), the Coalition alleged a plot by one of the company’s rivals of sponsoring false but damaging reports in the media.
It specifically fingered The Washington Post as the arrowhead of the media war.
At a joint press conference on Monday in Abuja, the Coalition noted that the allegations being peddled against Peters and Aiteo were the same issues which had been resolved by courts of competent jurisdiction and the decisions widely publicised.
The coalition, which questioned the integrity of Mr. Peter Whoriskey of The Washington Post, however cautioned the international news giant against allowing itself to be used by AITEO’s rivals to promote unhealthy business rivalry in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
In a statement endorsed by all the members and read by Tochukwu Ohazuruike, the Coalition stressed that a simple internet search could have availed Whoriskey of the judgment of the case and the present state of affairs.
It emphasised that some of the posers were directly extracted from untested allegations contained in a first amended verified complaint filed before the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
The Coalition called on media houses not to yield their platforms to people whose objectives are not noble and would as such encourage unhealthy business rivalry.
The statement reads in part: “There are a plethora of questions which The Washington Post has to answer and which directly call to question its genuineness in permitting this to happen.
“It will be damning to the long-held image of The Washington Post that its staff members have yielded the platform of the medium to the use for a global smear campaign and unhealthy business rivalry.
“Aiteo boss, Peters, has stated severally that he has never received any favour by way of facilitation or otherwise from Dieziani Alison-Madueke, and there was therefore nothing to be grateful for. He has severally denounced any such attempt to link the purchase of his property with the former minister under such premises.
“His purchase of the furniture was in furtherance of his desire to furnish a property that belonged to him, and those furniture can be found, even today, at his said property at 58 Harley House.
“No furniture that belonged to him can be found at any other place other than in his property. The furniture found at the UK address of Dieziani Alison-Madueke does not belong to him and certainly could not have been the same found in his said property at 58 Harley House.
“The truth, however, is that Mr. Peters has been in the oil and gas industry for over 26 years. Peters is the founder of the Aiteo group, an integrated global focused-Nigerian energy conglomerate comprising a number of corporate entities that provide jobs and enhance meaningful indigenous participation in the energy sector previously monopolised by International Oil Companies (IOCs).
“It is public knowledge that Peters and his companies have had and currently maintain successful, strategic and significant banking relationships with Nigerian banks. Some documents evidencing these relationships and transactions are available in the public domain too.
“Out of the five questions Mr Whoriskey inquired about, question 1 has been resolved by a competent court of law in Nigeria and the decision widely publicised. A simple internet search would have availed Mr Whoriskey of the judgment of the case and the present state of affairs.
“Further, questions 2-5 were directly extracted from untested allegations contained in a first amended verified complaint filed before the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
“We hope that these answers would satisfy Whoriskey and get him to alert his sponsors that the plot is dead on arrival and cannot be revived. We also say to all such persons who would in the future want to regurgitate these issues that the answers are already available and there is nothing hidden.”
According to the coalition, it will be damning to the long-held image of The Washington Post that its staff members have yielded the platform of the medium to the use for a global smear campaign and unhealthy business rivalry.
The statement advised such persons like Whoriskey, who would in the future want to regurgitate the same issues, that the answers are already available in the public space, and that Aiteo and Peters have nothing to hide.
The coalition further accused Bloomberg earlier in the year for acting on a purported assignment to investigate and publish material derived from official and personal information about Aiteo Eastern E and P and its founder, thereby yielding itself to be used by faceless and nefarious entities who had instigated a media smear campaign against the company.
The Coalition was represented by its joint Convener, Mr. Tochukwu Ohazuruike; Convener, Consortium of LHRJ, Mr. Peter Abang; President, Middle Belt Youth Council, Godwin Meliga, as well as Secretary-General and Head of Coalition Secretariat, Ohanaeze Youth Movement, Mr. Nwada Chiamaka.
Others were President of Arewa Consultative Youth Movement, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf; representative of Oduduwa Youth Council, Opeodu Oluwadamilola; representative of Niger Delta Council of Youths, Mr. Bassey Henshaw, and the Executive Director, African Centre for Justice and Human Rights, Chinwendu Edede.
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