Daily Trust newspaper has promised to review its controversial report on the signing of the Samoa Agreement by the Federal Government.
Following the controversial publication by the media house, the FG threatened to file a lawsuit against Daily Trust.
The agreement, as reported by Daily Trust, has some clauses that compel underdeveloped and developing nations to support the agitations by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community for recognition, as a condition for getting financial and other support from advanced societies, and it has sparked a chain of reactions.
Reacting in Abuja on Saturday during a media briefing, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said, “The Federal Government is lodging a formal complaint to the NPAN Ombudsman on this irresponsible reporting. In addition, the Federal Government will use every lawful means to seek redress in the court of law.”
In a publication on Monday, the media house acknowledged its lapses, adding that it will review the publication and take appropriate measures.
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The statement was signed by the Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Media Trust Group, Maryam Aminu Bello.
The statement read partly, “Two ministers of government, and other sundry commentators have taken us to the cleaners over our story on the Samoa Agreement in particular, and some other reports published earlier. We have followed with attention what these government officials said, and left unsaid, and we will publish that in full, for the records. We have also acknowledged lapses in our reporting on this particular matter, pointed out to us by professional colleagues, and we will review and take appropriate measures.”
It continued, “As our editors understood it, the Samoa Agreement signed by Nigeria has expanded the definition of gender rights, from the traditional male-female, to a new norm, captured by the term LGBTQ (Lesbian; Bi-sexual, Gay, Transgender and Queer). That is the crux of the matter.
“If the agreement does not aim at promoting such new orientation, widely accepted in Western countries, then we are wrong in our interpretation. We will readily apologise both to the government and to the public for crying wolf.
“We expect that those qualified, by training and experience, to make such a judgement, will weigh into the matter and we will as usual, publish all sides in the discussion, including that of the government.”
Denying some allegations of misinformation levelled against the media house by the Minister of Information, the statement added, “We wish to reiterate that we are an impartial media outlet. Since 1998, we have operated under six different governments, with the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration being the seventh. Throughout this period, we have consistently demonstrated a high level of impartiality in our reportage.”
