Alison-Madueke: Call Nda-Isaiah To Order, Group Tells Editors Guild, WEF, NPAN

Source: thewillnigeria.com

SAM NDA-ISAIAH BEVERLY HILLS, February 19, (THEWILL) -A group, which called itself the Network of Progressive Activists (NPA), Tuesday faulted the publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Mr.

Sam Nda-Isaiah, over his recent 'attacks' on the Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs.

Diezani Alison-Madueke, calling on the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), World Editors Forum (WEF) and the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) to call him to order.

In a statement titled, Sam Nda- Isaiah And His Open Show Of Partisan Subjectivity Towards The Person Of The Petroleum Minister, signed by Its National Coordinator, Timothy Ademola, the group accused Nda-Isaiah of declaring an 'open personal war ' against the Minister .

The group said it is  ' worried that the dedication of his entire newspaper to this agenda is replete with massive diabolical intent and energy capable of destructive results no matter how strong or how weak the target of his crusade of personal vendetta is.

' According to the group, 'In the last three months alone, the Leadership has featured seven different objectively bankrupt articles from Sam against the Honorable Minister,' adding 'What is worrying, to be clear, is not even the unbelievable frequency of the articles, but the bile, thoughtlessness and unabashed hatred dripping from every line of these articles.

' The group said 'From the title of the articles to their content, the whole intent reeks of indecorous bias and rage,' stressing that  'Sam is clearly determined to take Mrs.

Alison-Madueke to the cleaners; and that, not for laundry but for flushing down the toilet.

' Maintaining that 'These articles visibly portray Sam as a disgruntled diminutive pharmacist-turned journalist but remains unschooled in proper journalistic ethics and codes,' the statement alleged that  'Little wonder, the Leadership, these days, is littered with countless impassioned stories written to satisfy the blood-lust of the publisher against Mrs.

Alison-Madueke.
' The group alleged further:  'Afflicted by his highly-weaponised anti-Diezani vitriol and propelled by his brazen partisan interest, Sam went on the overdrive on Monday, 17th February 2014 in the article dubbed: Between Diezani's Directives and Presidential Directives.

'From the title of the write-up to the content, bias and prejudice was not only manifest but appeared to be the thematic pre-occupation of the writer.

The writer appropriated to himself the job of spokesman to the Governor of the Central Bank and the interpreter-in-chief of the Nigerian Constitution.

'While accusing the Minister of flagrant refusal to implement a presidential directive in 2009, the author forgot the fact that as at the time the Presidential directive was issued, precisely on June 10, 2009, the Minister of Petroleum Resources then was the highly respected Dr.

Rilwanu Lukman and it was him and not Mrs.
Alison-Madueke who in his wisdom stayed action on the directive.

' And citing the provisions of Section 6 sub-section (1) of the Petroleum Act of 1969 which states Inter-alia: Price control: The Minister may by order published in the Federal Gazette fix the prices at which petroleum products or any particular class or classes thereof may be sold in Nigeria or in any particular part or parts thereof, the group said 'A legal appraisal of the above paragraph would indicate that for the 2009 Presidential directive to come into effect, it must be published in a Federal Gazette, and because Dr.

Lukman in his own wisdom failed to follow through the process, the said directive cannot be activated.

' Explaining further and exonerating Alison-Madueke of blame, the group said 'the power to increase or fix the price of petroleum product under the Petroleum Act of 1969 is vested on the Minister of Petroleum Resources who can only execute such power via the publication of an official gazette; and since Dr.

Lukman did not do that, the said directive was null and void.

' The group said 'The author's attempts to wrongly conjugate a simple and innocuous statement made by the Honorable Minister albeit unsuccessfully, smacks of a desperate attempt to pigeon-hole public perception.

' It added that ' It equally seeks to lower the Minister's public gradient in the estimation of right thinking members of the society.

' According to the group, 'Before now, Sam Nda- Isaiah had hidden under the cover of journalistic license to unleash a torrent of attacks on the present administration with special focus on the Petroleum Minister, but with his recent open declaration of partisan affiliation to the opposition group, Sam Nda-Isaiah has lost all claim to neutrality, professionalism and objectivity attached to the noble profession of journalism.

' Maintaining that 'Sam Nda-Isaiah has entered the public market place and has shown himself in a mindless display of partisan subjectivity,' the statement said 'Quite unfortunately for Mr.

Publisher, the Nigeria public is not as gullible and undiscerning as he obviously thinks.

' The group therefore called  on NGE, NPAN and WEF to promptly call Nda-Isaiah to order 'in view of the negative opprobrious feedback of his anti-Government and anti-Diezani activities are bringing to the noble profession.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;">

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;"> A group, which called itself the Network of Progressive Activists (NPA), Tuesday faulted the publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Mr.

Sam Nda-Isaiah, over his recent 'attacks' on the Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs.

Diezani Alison-Madueke, calling on the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), World Editors Forum (WEF) and the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) to call him to order.

 
0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: 105%;" align="center"> In a statement titled, Sam Nda- Isaiah And His Open Show Of Partisan Subjectivity Towards The Person Of The Petroleum Minister, signed by Its National Coordinator, Timothy Ademola, the group accused Nda-Isaiah of declaring an 'open personal war ' against the Minister .

0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: 105%;" align="center">  

0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: 105%;" align="center">   The group said it is   ' worried that the dedication of his entire newspaper to this agenda is replete with massive diabolical intent and energy capable of destructive results no matter how strong or how weak the target of his crusade of personal vendetta is.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;"> According to the group, 'In the last three months alone, the Leadership has featured seven different objectively bankrupt articles from Sam against the Honorable Minister,' adding 'What is worrying, to be clear, is not even the unbelievable frequency of the articles, but the bile, thoughtlessness and unabashed hatred dripping from every line of these articles.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;"> The group said 'From the title of the articles to their content, the whole intent reeks of indecorous bias and rage,' stressing that   'Sam is clearly determined to take Mrs.

Alison-Madueke to the cleaners; and that, not for laundry but for flushing down the toilet.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;">   Maintaining that 'These articles visibly portray Sam as a disgruntled diminutive pharmacist-turned journalist but remains unschooled in proper journalistic ethics and codes,' the statement alleged that   'Little wonder, the Leadership, these days, is littered with countless impassioned stories written to satisfy the blood-lust of the publisher against Mrs.

Alison-Madueke.
'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;"> The group alleged further:   'Afflicted by his highly-weaponised anti-Diezani vitriol and propelled by his brazen partisan interest, Sam went on the overdrive on Monday, 17th February 2014 in the article dubbed: Between Diezani's Directives and Presidential Directives .

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;"> ' From the title of the write-up to the content, bias and prejudice was not only manifest but appeared to be the thematic pre-occupation of the writer.

The writer appropriated to himself the job of spokesman to the Governor of the Central Bank and the interpreter-in-chief of the Nigerian Constitution.

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;"> 'While accusing the Minister of flagrant refusal to implement a presidential directive in 2009, the author forgot the fact that as at the time the Presidential directive was issued, precisely on June 10, 2009, the Minister of Petroleum Resources then was the highly respected Dr.

Rilwanu Lukman and it was him and not Mrs.
Alison-Madueke who in his wisdom stayed action on the directive.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%;">   And citing the provisions of Section 6 sub-section (1) of the Petroleum Act of 1969 which states Inter-alia: Price control : The Minister may by order published in the Federal Gazette fix the prices at which petroleum products or any particular class or classes thereof may be sold in Nigeria or in any particular part or parts thereof, the group said

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"> 'A legal appraisal of the above paragraph would indicate that for the 2009 Presidential directive to come into effect, it must be published in a Federal Gazette, and because Dr.

Lukman in his own wisdom failed to follow through the process, the said directive cannot be activated.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"> Explaining further and exonerating Alison-Madueke of blame, the group said 'the power to increase or fix the price of petroleum product under the Petroleum Act of 1969 is vested on the Minister of Petroleum Resources who can only execute such power via the publication of an official gazette; and since Dr.

Lukman did not do that, the said directive was null and void.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">             The group said 'The author's attempts to wrongly conjugate a simple and innocuous statement made by the Honorable Minister albeit unsuccessfully, smacks of a desperate attempt to pigeon-hole public perception.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"> It added that ' It equally seeks to lower the Minister's public gradient in the estimation of right thinking members of the society.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"> According to the group, 'Before now, Sam Nda- Isaiah had hidden under the cover of journalistic license to unleash a torrent of attacks on the present administration with special focus on the Petroleum Minister, but with his recent open declaration of partisan affiliation to the opposition group, Sam Nda-Isaiah has lost all claim to neutrality, professionalism and objectivity attached to the noble profession of journalism.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"> Maintaining that 'Sam Nda-Isaiah has entered the public market place and has shown himself in a mindless display of partisan subjectivity,' the statement said 'Quite unfortunately for Mr.

Publisher, the Nigeria public is not as gullible and undiscerning as he obviously thinks.

'
0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">  

0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 110%; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">   The group therefore called   on NGE, NPAN and WEF to promptly call Nda-Isaiah to order 'in view of the negative opprobrious feedback of his anti-Government and anti-Diezani activities are bringing to the noble profession.

'