DAILY TRUST’S STORY IS COMPLETELY FALSE AND MISLEADING-S.A.

The rate of comments as been on its increase, following the facebook clarification by Mr. Paul C Nwabuikwu Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister of Finance and Minister

of Finance of August 2, 2014 over the alleged loss of N1billion on car imports published Daily Trust Story, it is said that the story was faulted.

Our attention has been drawn to an erroneous story in the Daily Trust Newspaper of Friday, August 1, 2014 titled “World Economic Forum on Africa: Federal Government Loses N1 Billion on Import of 290 Cars”. 

The story demonstrates ignorance both of Nigerian government policy and standard universal practice in the management of waivers. To expect beneficiaries of government waivers to return the goods for which the waivers were issued, as Daily Trust proposes in its story, demonstrates a misunderstanding of elementary facts and logic.

In the said article, the newspaper claimed that the Federal Government lost N1 billion in respect of a duty waiver granted to import 290 cars for the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEFA) held in Abuja in May, 2014. As already stated, it then tried to make an issue of the fact that the cars were kept by the company after the event. This is clearly another example of poor journalism and an attempt by Daily Trust and embittered interest groups to cause mischief.

For the benefit of the public, the facts of the matter are as follows:

i. Government granted import duty waiver to Messrs Globe Motors for importation of vehicles for the WEFA in May 2014, following a formal request by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, the hosting city for the event;

ii. The company that used its own money to import the vehicles naturally gets to keep its goods after deploying them to service the event. Government does not purchase such vehicles but only grants duty waivers on them in return for the services provided by the importing company. To expect the company to give the vehicles to government after the event is preposterous, to say the least. And Daily Trust trying to make an issue out of this clearly shows an embarrassing lack of understanding of what the process entails.

iii Waivers are granted to serve as encouragement to the company providing the transportation services for visiting delegates. The service provided to government is the value which the country gets from granting the incentive. This is the way it has worked for similar events organised by other State governments such as Lagos, Rivers, Delta, etc, that have benefited from the scheme in the past. The rationale for this approach is that the Nigerian private sector has not yet developed a viable car leasing industry.

The newspaper further claimed that Nigeria lost N1.4 trillion to waivers in the last 3 years. Here again, the correct position is that waivers worth a total of N170 Billion were granted to a variety of sectors to assist their development, including Power, Agriculture, etc. This is a common instrument that countries use as part of their industrial development strategy.

Decent journalism requires at least a minimum ethical standard of reportage. This one does not. We cannot stop Daily Trust from reflexively attacking government but it should, in the interest of journalism ethics and its readers, do its homework.

COMMENTS

• Fatai Ibrahim What can we say here now? Can we say that the news from Daily Trust should not be trusted? Perhaps so. And did the antics of Daily Trust resulted from the fact that the Jonathan's government has become a victim of its own success? Probably.
  May be Daily trust did that piece of dirty journalism because corruption is now rampart to the extent that journalists have nothing to look forward to from the activites of the government except corrupt dealings, especially now that PDP has been perceived to have soft spot for corrupt individuals. The general feeling of the nation is that if anyone is caught in dirty deals, all he or she has to do is to run to PDP and he or she will not only be immuned against prosecution but will also be rewarded with the PDP governorship ticket of his or her state.

   
  Let this government fight corruption and wastage with the seriousness and sincerity our current situation deserves, and the Daily Trust, and other media outfits for that matter, will never have the temerity and effrontery to insinuate any thing that can tarnish the image of the government or any of its Ministry, Agency or parastatal. In that case, if they don't have anything good to say, they will keep quiet for the fear of sounding ridiculous. If any of American or British or German newspaper alleges the same charges against their respective government, their rank-and-file citizens will only laugh at the newspaper and the proprietors will be ill-at-ease with ridicule because their governments are transparent, and corrupt practices are at the barest minimum, if not completely alien to them. But here, we are not merely basking in corruption, but wallowing in it. Which makes me to wonder if our Constitution will not be reviewed with a sub-section introduced that will say, "Thou can steal but thou must be careful not to be caught."
• Philosophio C. Chukwukadibie information sources should always be scrutinized for it's authenticity
• Godfrey Mortanya I like this explanation. Keep it up.
• Anita Uogenyi That is why you need to continue with your transparency objective. When you keep quiet about sensitive issues, your opposition will do the reporting to suit what they want the public to believe about the way you are administering the economy. Did the military threaten you for informing the public about their funding?because for some time now we've not read anything from you or maybe nothing is happening in our economy.
• Ibrahim Mukhtar Ajit News agencies! Why always giving 90% false infomation....
• Elechi Obi @Fatai Ibrahim, you lack understanding. I think you should be worried that the deception and falsehood you and your bought over Daily Trust engineered has been properly addressed. Nigerians know that Daily Trust has align itself with opposition party and as such, will stop at nothing to discredit PDP-led federal government. ARE YOU NOT CORRUPT FOR SPREADING FALSE INFORMATION? ARE YOU NOT CORRUPT FOR REFUSING TO APPRECIATE THE KIN DID EXPLANATION AND CLARIFICATION OFFERED BY MINISTRY OF FINANCE? You can never pull PDP down. Daily Trust needs financial experts for immediate employment before they go into extinction like APC.
• Onyi Philip Is Fair that your home town (Ogwashi-Uku) don't have light let alone single water.
• Phillip Dowdell Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, if I can help in any meaningful way with the One Campaign here in NJ please have someone contact me. Thanks so much!
• Bennett Anyanwu This is transparency in action!
• Moses Armstrong Babatunde Afudego Ride on mam, the press! They always have a bad mouth... Some mam, we hope you will be our president.
• Promise T. K. Akiene It is the hand work of detractors. Daily trust n APC are at it again
• Nnaike Linus Okonji What we have in Nigeria is not journalism,most of the papers in Nigeria were owned by politicians with vested interests and Daily trust is one of them.Madam,freedom of press is not absolute and in this aspect,Daily trust need to be taught a lesson on true journalism.sue them and make others in that category learn their lessons.

  
  

  Roland Peters Obiekwe Daily trust is nt wrong at all,in jornalism if u are economical wit information,u leave a jornalist wit the option of invoking the area of the constitution that empowers them to speculate about what u deprive them of.so my take is that when the press seek an interview with u,pls oblige and furnish them with accurate response.becos if u dnt,am sure u wouldn't like their right of speculation

  Nnaike Linus Okonji If you assumed that even if you furnished them with the whole information,they can still spin it to reflect what they wanted to get from you.Micheal jackson's interview is one good example if you know what interview i referred to.it is no more interview based on facts rather on speculations.that makes it lack objectivity.. just what Daily trust did.
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• Ifeanyichi Odinaka Who send .

   
• Atafo Oise Blessing This clearification further confirm Daily Trust report, first a waiver was granted for 290 cars with same duty value of about N1b as reported by Daily Trust, Secondly iam surprise that the Finance ministry is still in the business granting waiver for the importation of cars at the detriment of locally assemble cars that same ministry is trying to protect. Thirdly i blv it would av bn better if N1b leasing contract was awarded to d firm which will av a direct positive impact on our economy than d magical waiver. Also was the 290 cars actually deployed?......pls pple still av thinking caps on
• Yunusa Umar Faruk I particularly does not agreed with the minister's clarification this is due to the fact that it is hardly to Nigerian Government to tell you true about an issue honestly i am in the daily trust side untill when the true clearly out from the matter

  
  
• Vincent Oparah It 's high time some of these Newspapers got sued

  
  
• Ann Ngaloze Thank you for the timely clarification; we are better informed.

  
  
• Samuel Bekee Bravo Madam

  
  
• Dada Oluwafemi Onibaba If we do not hear this part of the story, imagine the said print media house has painted the Federal Government in Black colour and turn stories upside down. Millions of Nigerian has read and digest same. We are in demcratic system, anyone can just just wake from his bed and say anything. But to me such print media house does not help the economy in any form. Like i usually says, Federal Government and her parastatal workers, should in the Name of moving the Nation's forward have a very large hearts to accommodate which ever people are coming up with, but i'm sure our Democracy has come to stay.
• Akinkitan Joel Olaitan whao! What a transparent explanation! Those are the people we need in our respective offices.
• Jonathan Chibuike Another ethnic war,God save Nigeria from enemies within

  
  
• Ilesanmi Damilola Kehinde nice one minister

  
  
• Bagyinkáné Farkas Katalin I was wondering if you could help me that once you have done it to me, ma'am!

  
  
• Olaitan Quadri yes! daily trust can be trusted because it's tested and already a trustworthy paper in the country. I am doubting the ministry of finance dept until we seen a clear proof, therefore, I hold daily trust in high esteem. its a trusthworthy paper that can't be doubted...

  
  
• Chisara Young Arney JOURNALIST SHOULD NOT BE BIASED IN REPORTING EVENTS PLS.
• Uchenna Agu Exactly what a government is meant to provide and perform: explain grey areas in the interest of the citizens to appreciate what a government does or why they take certain measures. May the Honorable Minister not take offense for we know there are people in different shades and in varying camps that are out to thwart and undermine the efforts of the government. It will take many years to right the wrongs of both the military and previous administrations. As time permits, provide these period updates. Do not be dismayed.

  
  
• Atoba Olaitan If a container load with Nigeria currencies can disappear and no one talk about it in Nigeria, then it shows that ur administative have no measures to tackle corruption.

   
  We are not close to the government so the media are the one that act as the voice of the people.

  
  
• Jed-matthews Daniels U call them journalist I call them junks.Lazy bones who have no time to investigate but can sit in d comfort of their rooms,sometimes in a beer bar and write gibberish to confuse the populace

  
  
• Essien Sunday most of d problem of dis country is 4rm d media.

  
  
• Philip Uchendu Akpa Stomach Infrastructure Journalism Is Dangerous.

  
  
• Ogunsiku Olusegun Were it to be Government that misled the Public, there would have been calls for resignation. Can Daily Trust truly be trusted?

  
  
• Fred Fatherly Evoh Thanks for clarifications. What comes to mind sometime I see mix up from journalist is the problem of FOI

  
  
• Kingsley Uchechukwu Good job Fed. Min of Finance.

  
  
• Nelson Christain Uzoma The are miss leading Nigerians .thanks alot

  
  
• Evans E Ejimkaraonye Nigerian journalists are mere gossips, nothing more.

  
  
• Ekomobong Bassey Asada APC will forever be a failure

  
  
• Nande Ephraim Good explanation! When will these opposition-sponsored news papers ever tell the truth about Govt policies?